Saving Him
by the-writer1988
Summary: Donna finds herself a part of a military organisation as the Doctor fights for his very existence. But can Donna save the Doctor and re-establish the time-lines all by herself or will she need help from someone on the inside?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N) **I started posting this story in 2008 however I stopped writing it and ended up deleting this story from this site. I have now picked the story up again and am coming to the end of the writing process so I have decided to start posting it again.

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**Title:** Saving Him

**Author: **the-writer1988

**Rating: **PG-13

**Characters: **Ten and Donna plus original characters.

**Summary: **Donna finds herself a part of a military organisation as the Doctor fights for his very existence. But can Donna save the Doctor and re-establish the time-lines all by herself or will she need help from someone on the inside?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who.

**Chapter One**

_YEAR: 134007_

_LOCATION: Prestine, the Spiral Arm, Leroda Galaxy._

"When I said I wanted to go a market world, I didn't expect to be dragged into a war!" snapped Donna Noble, glaring at her erstwhile companion, who was grinning like a loony at her. His eyes danced with delight and even Donna couldn't stay mad at the Doctor for long. He had shown her so much of the universe, so many impossible things that he had changed her entire outlook on life. Despite the situations he usually got them into, he was always full of ideas and kept coming up with them regardless of the trouble they inevitably ran into in almost every place they visited. In all the time she had travelled with him he had never let her down once, and Donna was certain, that inside that thick skull of his, he was concocting another brilliant idea that would solve the current mess they had fallen into.

"Oh come on," he said, "its all part of the fun!" He shrugged, trying to ignore his companion's steely gaze. "Besides we haven't exactly done anything wrong! Just parked in the wrong place, that's all…."

Donna's eyebrows shot up. "We have been accused of being spies for General San… San… Sanshawotsit."

"Sansheraz," informed the Doctor. "Not Sanshawotsit."

"Oy! Don't get smart with me, alien boy!"

He shifted away from her slightly as if scared that she would hit him though it was effectively impossible since their wrists were tied together with rope and they were placed behind their backs.

"You'd better have a good idea that will get us out of this!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Donna, Donna, Donna….when have I ever let you down? I am always full of brilliant ideas." And then he smiled that manic grin of his.

"You haven't," her voice became softer, "yet."

"Good." The Doctor's eyes swerved round their little prison. Their feet had been clamped to the floor, preventing them from even trying to escape. They were being held in a van, which was transporting them to the Courts of Justice where they would be judged for their crime. The Doctor knew they hadn't committed a crime – it had been blown out of proportion. The truth of it was the fact that the TARDIS had happened to materialise in the Minister's Private Gardens and the guards on duty had assumed they were spies because the grounds were protected so well that no one had made it in before without having a thorough security check. The TARDIS had bypassed all their security and appeared in an impossible place. He could understand their suspicion but they could have at least allowed him the chance to explain it was all an honest mistake and that he and Donna were just innocent travellers. But they hadn't even allowed him that privilege.

They had learned something though. There was a conflict that could escalate into a war if it got any more deadly and that a General Sansheraz was involved. The soldiers were assuming that they were spies for that General, but they were not. Assumptions were a dangerous risk to take – because you could end up making an enemy of someone you really didn't want. However, the Doctor was confident once the situation was analysed they would be set free and allowed to go on their way.

Donna sighed audibly, her breath blowing a bit of her red hair up. "Anyway, what planet are we on?"

The Doctor frowned, his tongue poking between his lips. "By my reckoning we should be on Prestine, which is located on The Spiral Arm of the Leroda Galaxy. It is known for its markets and it was the planet I wanted to take you to." He gave her an apologetic grin. "The TARDIS may have made a slight miscalculation."

"A slight miscalculation? It doesn't seem like it to me," scorned Donna, the glare now back in her eyes.

The Doctor swallowed. If his hands were not tied behind his back he would be tugging at the collar of his shirt with two of his fingers. "Well, maybe not a little…" he admitted. "As far as I can tell, we have arrived during the time when the markets didn't exist. Not much is known about Prestine before that, so this war – whatever it is – does change Prestine for the better, but being caught up in it is not very good."

"And that is because…" began Donna, curious as to why getting caught up in this war was not good when they always got caught up in worse situations and survived just fine. "Surely us being here gives us the opportunity of discovering about a planet's history that is not widely know?"

"There is that," admitted the Doctor. He was intrigued as to why this planet's history was not well known and part of him was tempted to stay – if they got out of their current situation intact. But there were disadvantages of staying – he would be gambling with a set time-line; he could risk changing the established future just by being in the past. "I run the risk of changing the future, Donna. Some things are fixed in time and I know for a fact that these markets are fixed. They are too big advent for the universe for me to run that risk of changing it. I know that Prestine is the market capital of the forty thousands…and I think we have arrived in the year one hundred and thirty four thousand and seven which…" he tilted his head, "is quite a long time away…and the market had to begin around this time in order for its popularity to spread around the universe by the forty thousands…"

"So," began Donna, "when we get free," She didn't like the fact that they wouldn't be seen innocent, "we will go to the proper time period we were heading for?"

The Doctor leaned back, exposing his throat. "Maybe – I may stick around, despite the risk, to ensure that history plays out as it should."

Donna pursed her lips. She didn't say anything. The Doctor could be quite a hypocrite at times. Shaking her head Donna leaned back against the wall and waited, wondering if she was truly going to be able to visit the Prestine Market or if she and the Doctor would be swept into something more dangerous.

She had the ominous feeling that it would be the second option.

* * *

"Come on Auri!"

Auraya glanced up as Feena looked over her shoulder at her. She sighed and stood up, brushing the grass from her hands. She walked quickly in order to catch up to her guardian.

"You know it's not safe to be out in these gardens especially since those spies were caught!" muttered Feena, her eyes alight with fear and concern for her young charge.

Rolling her eyes and folding her arms, Auraya responded: "Fee, they were caught. They are not going to harm me."

Feena shook her head slowly, brushing the lock of blonde hair out of her eyes. "If two people can get in without being detected then so can many others! For all we know there could be others and those two were just incredibly unlucky to be caught! And you are forgetting a very important detail about yourself!"

Auraya cocked her head to the right side. "What's that then?"

"You are the heir! If something happens to you, your father will be heirless! Do you really want your world to fall into disarray due to your premature death?" asked Feena.

She had a point, Auraya realised. Her mother had died giving birth to her which meant that the office of Minister (which was passed down through the family) rested on her shoulders. If her mother had survived and gone onto give birth to a son then she wouldn't have to worry about that burden falling to her. The Minister's position fell to the oldest male in the main line, but if there was no son then the post went to the oldest daughter. It was complicated and Auraya held no interest in taking her father's position but it was her destiny and duty to take it. She knew deep in her heart that her safety was paramount to keeping the Laris line safe but sometimes her craving for adventure and excitement made her wish she was just an ordinary girl with no path laid out before her. However she loved her home and people and wanted to see them safe and in order to do that she had to take her own life seriously and abound to the rules that kept her safe. "I don't wish to mess this world up…I mean, who would want to hurt a sixteen year old girl? I've done nothing wrong to warrant such attentions from the Armorinians. I know my father has though…"

"You've hit the nail on the head," replied Feena, grabbing Auraya's hand and thrusting the other in her pocket where she kept a miniature, but very powerful blaster. "They could cause you father terrible pain if they captured or killed you. That is why your safety is far more important then your father's. I appreciate you know how to defend yourself but the enemy is known to play a dirty game. The fact that they managed to sneak in two spies into our very grounds without tripping our wards speaks volumes."

"If they have developed a way to get through our wards without tripping the alarms then surely that must mean someone close to dad is a traitor?" But then her mind whirled realising that if there was someone on the inside surely they would have acted before now? "If there is a traitor feeding information to the Armorinians, and I can be used against father, then why haven't they acted yet?"

"Because," whispered Feena into her ear, "maybe that isn't their mission objective."

It was a hint that Auraya could not afford to miss. She had been trained since childhood to replace her father one day, and the answer to what could be a tantalising question was lingering on her mind. "If there are spies and their mission is to not get at me or my father, then their objective is information. Information that could potentially ruin us if given to the wrong hands – it could lead to our downfall. But how does dad know who to trust?"

"He doesn't," explained Feena. "He just has to hope that they remain loyal to him."

Auraya nodded, understanding that faith in your subjects was important especially when you had to make decisions on who was trustworthy. She just hoped that when she became Minister she would have as much foresight as her father did. She had to wonder how her dad had realised that the man and woman who had appeared in the blue box were spies for General Sanseraz. Something nagged at her mind. There was a feeling that she had that was telling her that the two prisoners were innocent…caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. She hoped that her father would give them ample opportunity to explain themselves. She had to wonder if he would allow her to sit in on their trial…after all it would be a learning curve for her…as one day she would be expected to preside over trials and determine whether someone was innocent or guilty.

* * *

The Doctor and Donna stood side-by-side in front of the Minister of Prestine. They had not yet had the chance to defend themselves since the Minister had been shuffling through the paperwork their guards had forced them to fill out. On those pieces of paper were their confessions of innocence. The Minister looked up from his work, setting the papers down in front of him, his dark eyes boring into theirs.

"You say your names are The Doctor and Donna Noble?"

"Yes," answered the Doctor. He and Donna had discussed that unless any questions were directed at her, the Doctor would be the only one to speak.

"You were caught entering the grounds bypassing the security systems that have been installed. You claim you are just explorers - travellers to be exact – and that you arrived here by accident." The Minister's gaze was steely as he glared down at them. "I do find that difficult to believe."

"I understand that my ship materialising in your garden does give the wrong impression. I realise there is a war going on," admitted the Doctor, "but I did not know of it until the guards mentioned it when we were being escorted to the prison van." He spread his hands out in front of him. "In all honesty, Donna and I are just travellers. If you don't believe us then surely there is something we can do to prove our innocence to you?"

It was risk, but it was gamble they had to take. If they showed their willingness to do anything that would prove them innocent of what they had been accused of, them going through with it should convince the Minister that they were just caught in the wrong place.

The Minister looked thoughtful by his request. He scratched his chin, running his fingers through the short beard. "Well…if you are innocent then I suppose I could, in order to find out, use the mind probe on you. It would hurt a lot and allow me access to your deepest and darkest fears and memories. But would you consent to the pain?" he wondered aloud, looking down at the two of them with a steely expression.

The Doctor swallowed, his mind running through many possibilities, but each action he thought of would only convince the Minister that they were guilty of being spies. He had asked to do something that would prove their innocence, but the Doctor knew what a mind probe did and he couldn't allow them to know what he was or the extent of his knowledge of the past, present and future was. He could see no way out of it and he realised that he would have to take that risk. Allow that knowledge to be potentially discovered. If it got them out of this mess…No matter how he analysed the situation, no viable idea came to him.

But he couldn't allow them to use the mind-probe on Donna. Her human brain wouldn't be able to handle it. She could die or worse go insane from it being used on her. He wondered if he pleaded for her they would show clemency to her if he submitted to its usage on him. Squaring his shoulders he took one step forward and looked up into the Minister's eyes. "I will consent to the mind probe being used on me, but Donna is a human being and her brain would not be able to handle the probe. It could kill her or drive her insane and I promised her grandfather that I would keep her safe. Allowing you to do that to her would be breaking that promise and I wouldn't be protecting her."

Emotion carried in this Doctor's voice. Raw emotion. He really cared for this human being and that wasn't the type of spy General Sansheraz would employ, the Minister knew that. His own spies had told him that. So he could only come to the conclusion that both of them were innocent. He raised his voice so that the whole hall could hear him pronounce his judgement. "You have accepted the mind probe on yourself and you have also made a plea to protect your friend which spies would never do. From your actions here in this very room, I must conclude that you are not guilty."

The Doctor and Donna breathed a sigh of relief. Donna couldn't help it – she hugged the Time Lord, nearly crushing him. He patted her on the back before drawing her away from him. He turned back to face the Minister. "If you don't mind me asking, Minister…?" He let his sentence trial off.

"Laris," nodded the man. "Ager Laris."

The Doctor smiled. "Thank you. If you don't mind me enquiring," he rubbed the back of his neck, "did you think that we were innocent anyway?"

"I did," replied Ager, inclining his head. "I had the impression that you genuinely didn't know what was going on this planet. You are not even meant to be here at all – that is obvious from your statements. And my daughter also had an ominous feeling that you were just caught in the wrong place." He motioned to a young woman with long brown hair and was wearing a dark blue dress that showed off her figure. "This is my daughter and heir, Auraya."

"That's a nice name," said Donna, smiling warmly at the girl.

"Thank you," the girl said as she walked towards her father and took her place by his side.

"Auraya is my heir who will one day retain my duties of Minister as her own," explained Ager Laris. He clasped his hands together. "Now I feel that I owe you two an apology for the way you were treated by my men when you arrived here. I would be honoured if you would accept our hostility and stayed with us for a while."

"No, no, no…" said the Doctor hastily. "No apology is needed. It's easy to make an escape. I do it all the time…well sometimes actually." He ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment. "Though I have to admit I am interested about the history of this war – perhaps you could care to enlighten us?"

The Minister frowned, his eyes searching the Doctor's own. "I suppose I can oblige to your request."

* * *

"I told you that they were innocent!" insisted Auraya, as the Doctor and Donna walked out of the Judgement Hall. "They didn't seem to be the type that would cause any harm!" Truth be told, Auraya, from even seeing them from afar had deduced by feelings alone that they were innocent.

Ager glanced at this daughter, scowling at her enthusiasm at being proved right even though he'd had the same thoughts too. "They did seem innocent through their aura. I sensed that much, however the male does have the distinct impression that he has killed many during his lifetime. He is not entirely innocent but he is not guilty of being a spy for General Sansheraz."

Auraya nodded, understanding. She too had had the feeling that the Doctor had killed but it was not their place to judge his past crimes. Besides he seemed a likeable guy. "Are you going to explain to them the conflict to them?" she asked. "They could be a great help to us."

Ager nodded at his daughter. "I will. I think they would be very useful in aiding us. I am glad that your psychic abilities are coming to the fore. They will be a great asset to you when you assume my position. I just hope that the war will be a thing of the past by the time I die and your reign is not tainted by this conflict. I do intend, Auri, for you to rule in peace and prosperity. I just have to find the solution that will please General Sansheraz and the Armorinians."

"And giving them Prestine is not the solution either," said Auraya.

"No it isn't. And that wasn't on my mind at all. Perhaps the Doctor and Miss Noble will be able to bring about a solution that will please both sides and allow peace to prosper between our peoples. This has been going on for far too long."

"What, the war?" said a voice.

Ager glanced behind him noticing that the Doctor was approaching him with Donna in tow. His hands were thrust deep in his coat's pockets and an infectious grin was fixed on the man's face.

"Would you be able to help us?" asked Ager, noticing that his daughter's eyes became hopeful.

The Doctor shrugged, strolling round the room they had just been tried in. "It depends on what this war is about and whether I can do anything useful that would bring about peace. I do promise that I will give you some help whatever the situation is." The Doctor returned to stand in front of Ager, his dark brown eyes boring into his. "If I can bring the end to this war with a minimal loss of life I will do so."

"I understand your concerns," replied the Minister. "If you two would care to follow me I will take you to my private quarters where I will explain this dire situation to you." He turned towards his daughter. "Auraya, perhaps you could spend your time studying? You do have your theory exams approaching rapidly."

The girl bowed. "Yes, father." Turning from the room, Auraya departed heading towards the library leaving her father alone to talk to the two strangers. She hoped that he would convince them that they needed their help.

**To be continued...**

**Please let me know what you think! The next update will be next Wednesday. **

**Until then, **

**the-writer1988**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N) Here is the second chapter... **

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**Chapter Two**

Minister Ager Laris led the Doctor and Donna out of the Judgement Hall, across the lawns towards the Golden Palace which was situated on the other side of the gardens. The Minister owned one mile of land on the entire planet – it wasn't much but there was no need for him to have so much property. The Judgement Hall was located on his own land but the prison itself was situated on the other side of the main Prestinian City. Due to the Golden Palace being so far from the hall, Ager summoned a coach that would take them the one mile to his home. Neither Ager, the Doctor or Donna spoke until the carriage passed the TARDIS which was still situated where they had been captured.

It was here that the Doctor leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and looking directly at the Minister, as Laris stared at the blue box. "I hope you don't mind my ship staying in your beautiful garden?"

The Minister shook his head. "Not at all. It's not really taking up much room – I can hardly create a scene over a wooden box can I?"

The Doctor chose to ignore that particular comment.

Meanwhile Donna was casting her gaze out of the carriage's window. She was viewing the plants; a look of concentration came over her face. She point out one, patting the Doctor on the arm. "These plants are something I've never seen before and –" she raised a hand to silence the Doctor who had opened his mouth to speak, "- yes, I know we are on a different planet, but they have the distinct aura that they, well, originated from Earth. I recognise them vaguely – but not exactly…"

"That does happen, Donna. There are many worlds in this universe that resemble Earth. Prestine is just one of many that relate to Earth in differing ways," explained the Doctor, shrugging it away as if it was obvious that many planets were similar. "There are many humanoid forms in the universe. For example," he raised one finger, looking particularly geeky, "all three of us hail from different corners of the universe yet we look physically the same. Despite that we are completely different in on the inside. Evolution plays a big part in our lives – there will always be similarities to other species wherever we go. It's universal fact!" He leaned back in his seat looking rather smug.

Donna glared daggers at him. "It's not universal fact on Earth, mate! They think its all green-skinned aliens with large black eyes and small bits of hair on the top of their heads!"

"Those would be the Kenders then."

Donna looked at him sharply. "The what?"

He was grinning at her and it was a teasing one at that. "Not really."

"Stop it with the jokes, space-man!" she shouted. "They're not funny."

But he wouldn't stop that irritating but heart-melting grin of his. She shook her head and turned away from him.

"Still," he rambled on, "you'll get used to it: I mean all the strange, strange creatures that you'll see through your travels with me that is." That was the joy of having a human companion – showing them the wonders of the universe – and watching them grow as a person as they saw the most impossible things. Donna had surprised him the most out of all his companions. Self-centred and not interested in the wider picture when he had met her, Donna's experience with him had opened her eyes to the universe at large and he found her to be fiercely loyal, compassionate and intelligent: a combination that was essential to survive the dangers that the universe continued to throw at them.

"We are here," announced Ager as the carriage drew to a stop in front of a large palace that was painted bright gold. Tall spires reached the clouds and two large towers sat at the top on either side of the main roof of the building. The windows reminded Donna of those in churches. The intricate drawings were reflected in the sun showing off the many wonderful colours.

"That is beautiful," whispered Donna. It amazed her to no end and the Doctor had to tug on her arm gently to lead her away.

Ager led them into the palace itself, taking them up two flights of stairs before reaching a small room where three red plush chairs were arranged around a small table. There was a kettle plugged into the wall and a cupboard full of cups which the Minister dully got down. He busied himself by pouring some bottled water into the kettle. He glanced at the Doctor and asked: "Tea?"

"Yes please."

"Not for me, thanks," said Donna, before the Minister could ask her. She wondered why the Minister was doing that himself when he was the leader of his people – surely he would have servants to do this type of thing?

"You may be wondering why my servants are not doing this – it is because this room is for meeting purposes of friends and one where we can relax without the pressures of being waited on all the time. It allows me a chance to do something normal for a change."

"Well, that's good!" encouraged the Doctor. "It allows you to relate to your people even if it is such a small thing as making the tea."

Once the drink was made the Minister seated down in one of the remaining chairs. The Doctor and Donna had chosen the sofa to settle upon, and the Doctor had already taken off his coat and flung it over the back of another chair. His jacket had soon joined it.

The Minister's voice became low as he began to speak and both Donna and the Doctor had to lean forward to hear what he had to say. "The war has raged for ten years. Before that we lived in peace. Then the Armorinians came. Their representative, General Sansheraz claims that we have stolen their planet in their absence and they demand that we leave this world and settle elsewhere. All our records show that we have prospered on this planet for over tens of thousands of years so Sansheraz's claim that the Armorinians originated from this planet are unfounded. This suggests to us that they are trying to bully us into leaving this world – they do after all have a mighty fleet orbiting another planet in a nearby star system, but they don't come from that world. In these ten years they have attacked this world periodically giving us a lot of damage to our eco-system, to our plant life and to our general way of life. They believe it will drive us out but we will never yield to their demands. Prestine is not their world, it is ours." He looked beseechingly at the Doctor. "Is there anything you can do?"

The Doctor was silent. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning. "I can help you," he said slowly, "but it would mean opening up negotiations with this General Sansheraz. I avoid violence when I can – and I will only help you if we can work to a peaceful solution.

"Thank you," replied the Minister.

The Doctor allowed just a small smile to cross his face as he began to consider his options.

* * *

They had been given a room to share. It was painted in the colour purple, and Donna took note that, that was the royal colour. Donna reached out a hand and brushed the bed linen. It was soft and silky which sent shivers running up Donna's spine. There was only one problem with their accommodation – there was only one bed, however that was easily rectified. There was a sofa, long enough for the Doctor to lay on. It did not stop Donna saying: "Why do people always assume we are a couple?"

The Doctor shrugged, clearly unsure how to answer, however a thought struck him as he remembered their trip to 1928. "Well, Agatha Christie realised that we were not a couple and that was due to neither of us wearing a wedding band."

"Or an engagement ring," observed Donna. "Surely people must realise that in these times as well?"

"Not necessarily," said the Doctor. "Weddings and marriage are completely different now as to what they were like many years ago. Most people nowadays just speak vows and are then married without the bother of rings. The ceremonies have changed so much over the centuries that it is natural to assume that anyone is married without any proof to back up this claim." He flopped down onto the sofa, stretching his long legs out. "Anyway! Onto more important things!

Donna eyed him warily. "How exactly are you going to help the Minister? You mentioned working towards a peaceful solution…?"

"I did," confirmed the Doctor. "But I do want to look through the history records. I need to know if there are any records pertaining to the Armorinians origins. It is entirely possible that the Armorinians did come from this planet but in their absence a new species was born…" he trailed off, frowning. "Even in my vast knowledge of the universe I have never heard of the Armorinians…the Prestinians, I have because they have made such an impact on the future…" He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Though, come to think of it, I did hear of a rumour of an entire species leaving their home world to look for a better place to live…but I didn't believe that was true… An entire race leaving their home to explore the universe? That would realistically be impossible…but it would depend on how many people were in the civilisation at the time of departure…"

"Doctor! Will you please stop babbling like a baboon and start talking sense!" demanded Donna, folding her arms.

The Doctor leaned forward, placing his chin in his hands. "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes."

"I realise that skinny-boy!"

He chose to ignore that comment and instead delved into what his first step was going to be in order to solve this situation. "I don't think there will be many clues in Prestinian history about the Armorinians so I need to set up a meeting with them and get information. But would they agree to a meeting?"

"It depends on whether they consider you a threat, doesn't it?" replied Donna.

"True….and even if they did agree to a meeting there is no guarantee that the Armorinians would even give me their personal history. I don't think they would be willing to settle this matter peacefully either."

Donna winced. "How are you going to convince them to tell you what you want to know?"

"No idea," he admitted, leaning back in the sofa. "It's going to be difficult. Minister Laris might be opposed to me setting up a meeting with his enemies. This isn't going to be easy, Donna. Not all."

Donna smiled sadly at him. "I don't suppose there is a chance of us just bypassing the situation and going straight into the future to the markets?" She sounded hopeful even though she knew that it was not going to happen in the slightest.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, sorry." He sound and looked rather apologetic. "You never know that the markets may come into existence because we could be the instigators of peace between these two warring factions. The fact that the creation of the markets is not that widely known does mean that we could be involved….nothing much is known about this period of history other then that the Prestinians were at war before the markets became their universal achievement."

"We always seem to get pulled into major events," said Donna, shrugging her shoulders. "It isn't that difficult to assume that we do end up helping them."

"Much as I feel we should leave this situation," replied the Doctor, "it wouldn't be right to. It is such an unknown period of history that I want to stay to find out…but interfering as we probably will end up doing could have repercussions on the future. We would have to be very careful as to where we put our feet." He scratched his chin, his large, brown eyes darting around the room. "Though the TARDIS did bring us here for a reason and it probably means we are involved in some capacity."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Doctor, you are insane. You talk and analyse things too much. Why can't you just let it play out?"

The Doctor looked at her as if she was mad. A slow smile built on his face. "Donna, this is me you are talking to. You've travelled with me long enough to know this is what I do."

Donna considered this realising that he was just 'being the Doctor' as usual.

He shifted in his seat, his tongue poking out the edge of his mouth. "I still think that I should try and piece together the history of the Armorinians because that is the key to solving this situation and preventing any more bloodshed." He locked gazes with Donna. "I will need your help, Donna. I can't do this alone."

"Doctor," she shook her head sadly but said softly, taking his hand in hers. "You know you can always rely on me." It was in that moment, as she stared into his eyes, that she saw his age for what it really was. He looked old and exhausted but still full of life. The Doctor carried the weight of the universe upon his shoulders – it was his duty to protect it, to make sure that the timeline ran its course. The greatest burden she had ever seen him bear was the choice he had to make at Pompeii. That had been a terrible choice for him and it had been Donna who had enabled him to make that decision. Twenty thousand people it had been or the world. She knew in her heart that it had been her strength that had helped him through it. She realised that throughout his long life he had made other tough choices and, as if instinctively, she knew that the Pompeii decision was not the worst one of all. She swallowed, acknowledging the fact that the Doctor would need her help and that it was her duty to aid him in whatever the future threw at them.

Sitting there, looking deep into his eyes, Donna Noble had the most awful premonition of all. Something was coming: she could see it in her minds eye. The Doctor was facing a choice and she wouldn't be there to help him. She had no idea why she felt like that and yet she was sure that something bad was going to happen and that she would be left alone on this desolate world while the Doctor would be elsewhere in pain and in need of help… She shook her head trying to forget the feelings that had welled themselves up inside her. Softly, almost gently she said: "Doctor, I promise you that whatever happens I will help you, even if it kills me."

"Don't say that Donna," replied the Doctor, shaking his head in sadness that his companion would even suggest such a thing.

But Donna chose to ignore it and pressed on with her point. "I'm telling you that I would die for you if it meant you survived. The universe needs you, Doctor, but it doesn't need Donna Noble." She raised a hand to silence him. "Don't. Just don't. You are not going to change my mind."

The Doctor swallowed around the lump that was forming in his throat. He realised that arguing with Donna was futile. She was stubborn as hell and nothing would prevent her from doing as she said. She would die for him no matter how much he disliked that notion. But he couldn't just accept her words. "I don't intend to let you die. You are not immortal."

Donna's eyebrows rose to her hairline giving the impression that she was in shock. "You're immortal?" There was surprise in her voice, after all he had given her the impression that he was.

"Well…" he tipped his head to side, dragging out the word as he considered what to say. "…near enough," he sniffed.

Before Donna could ask what he meant, the Doctor had leapt to his feet and bounded to the door. "Come on! We've got a mystery to solve and we can't spend all day chatting!"

Donna shook her head, pocketing the information away until a time when it would be appropriate to ask. There was so much she didn't know about the Doctor – he continued to surprise her every day. She wondered what else he was hiding from her.

* * *

Deep in space, a fleet orbited the planet of Delti. More then one thousand Armori cruisers made up the fleet and each ship was capable of carrying nearly five hundred thousand Armorinians. The fleet was just one hyperspace jump away from their home world, which had been renamed by the Prestinians during the time they had been away. The Armorinians had evolved during their time away but they had never forgotten the name, location and galactic co-ordinates of their origin. They had not expected upon returning to find their world overrun and infested with a race that claimed Armori (which had been renamed Prestine) was not their world.

General Sansheraz turned from the viewport, his hands clasped behind his back. He turned to the Junior Lieutenant that was standing at attention behind him. "Report!" he demanded in a firm and strong voice.

"Our technicians report that they are receiving a message which is encoded to you. It has been transmitted from the palace on Armori."

Amorinians called the planet by its rightful name, not the false name that had been bestowed upon it by their enemies. It was law that if any Armorinian named their planet as Prestine it implied that they thought it was acceptable for the Prestinians to take their world and claim it was rightfully theirs. Anyone who implicated that they thought that was blasphemy and was swiftly executed. It was the only way to stop an uprising from happening. Of course that didn't stop rumours going through the fleet…everyone knew that the Armorinians had made war on the Prestinians and for ten years they had been attacked and bombarding the planet in an effort to intimidate the people into leaving. They didn't want to take it by force, as such, because such a measure could damage their planet beyond repair and they still wanted to obtain its beauty when they finally occupied it once more.

For a moment Sansheraz dared to think that the communication was one of surrender, but then he doubted it for he knew, in his experience, that the Prestinians were a stubborn race who didn't know defeat, even when it was staring them in the face.

He nodded to the soldier that was standing behind him, waiting for his answer.

"Very well. Inform them that I will receive the message in my quarters. We will not bother the Supreme Commander with this."

"Yes, General," bowed the lieutenant.

Sansheraz swept from the bridge – his long clock billowed behind him as he walked. He reached his quarters, combed his black hair, straightened his uniform and sat down in front of his terminal that was situated in front of his desk in the wall. The message lit up his screen – it was not a recorded one, which was what he had been expecting. It was being transmitted live… It had definitely been an inspired idea to check his reflection before receiving this communication then. He activated the link that the technicians had sent to his computer and watched as the live feed fizzled into existence displaying a skinny man with messy brown hair and wearing a brown suit. That was not the Minister, unless the Prestinians had had a change of ruler and his spies hadn't reported it…

"General Sansheraz, I presume?" the man asked, seeking confirmation.

"Correct. Who are you? What do you want?"

The man held a hand to his chest. "I am the Doctor. I am calling you on behalf of Minister Ager Laris of Prestine in order to discuss with you terms of a treaty. I don't like violence and would prefer to settle this planetary matter without causing anymore needless deaths. What I'm asking for is to be granted safe passage in and out of your territory so that I can meet you in person to talk to you about a chance of peace, or at least attempting to come to some agreement that would be beneficial to both you and Prestine's current population even if it doesn't solve the problem of planetary ownership."

Sansheraz scrutinised him, staring darkly into the man's intense, brown eyes. "And you seem to be under the impression that we are even willing to negotiate with thieves. They have no right to demand a treaty with us."

"They do if they _**evolved **_after your entire species left your planet. You don't know if they did evolve since you left as no one was left behind to witness the Prestinians birth," explained the Doctor. "All I wish is to discuss certain things with you and endeavour to discover if peace can be formed between your people. Problems can be sorted out if both sides are willing to compromise with each other."

The General knew that the Prestinians were in the wrong. There was no way that an entire civilisation could have been built up so quickly in the years that the Armorinians had been absent from their home world. However, there was, after all, no harm in giving this Doctor safe passage. There was no hope of a compromise ever occurring, but still it was best to mislead their enemies – give them hope when really there was none. It would be worth it to see exactly what this Doctor had to say.

He clasped his hands in his lap and cleared his throat. "Very well – I will grant you safe passage. Proceed to the Delti system for two days time. We will meet in neutral territory just outside the system on a small space station. However," he levelled his eyes at the man, "I have one condition that you must abide by."

"Depends on what you want me do to," answered the Doctor, his gaze steely, but calm.

"Submit to a medical check," stated the General. He was certain that this Doctor would not agree. A minute passed before the Doctor replied and what he said surprised him immensely.

"Fine: providing that you bring no weapons yourself and do not threaten me in any way."

He drove a hard bargain that Doctor did, but Sansheraz could agree. After all, he wasn't asking for him to agree to make peace with the Prestinians. Still the medical checks would give him information on the Doctor, learn more about him – he saw no harm in agreeing to his demands either. He still won either way. "I accept. No weapons, what so ever. Two days, Doctor. Until then, safe trip."

Reaching forward he turned the screen off. A smile slid over his features and he wondered if he would be hailed a hero in years to come. This meeting with the enemy could potentially lead to the end of the conflict. Perhaps he and his people would soon be celebrating back home in months to come. He had a good feeling in his bones that this meeting would lead to better things for his people.

* * *

"Are you insane?" Donna jabbed the Doctor in the chest. "You are going alone? Without me? What possessed you to do something so idiotic?"

They had been on Prestine for a week now, in which the Doctor and Donna had spent time researching the history of the planet. The Doctor was certain that the Armorinians and the Prestinians had originated on the same world – all the dates worked out accordingly. All they needed to do was learn more about the Amorinian side of history to double check their calculations and support their research. However in order to obtain that relevant information it meant contacting the enemy and attempting to arrange a meeting of some sort. Of course, the Doctor being the Doctor had contacted the General of the Armorinian army and made arrangements to meet them. He hadn't even told her his intentions before he had done it – not even warned her. It was not the first time that Donna wondered whether the Doctor's brain was wired in correctly.

Despite that, she had a feeling that the Doctor was walking right into big trouble. If anything, at least, she should be going with him to watch his back, yet the Doctor steadily refused claiming that he had made the deal providing he arrived alone.

"But what if they break their word to give you safe passage back?" she asked, concerned for his welfare.

The Doctor laid his hands upon Donna's shoulders. "I have to trust that they won't break their word but we need this information, Donna. And you have to be here to carry on in my place if things do go wrong."

"You're not denying it then," she stated.

"Denying what?" he asked, baffled by the interruption, into what she had assumed was his 'prepared speech'.

"That you could be walking into a trap, one that could lead to your death," she said, glaring up at him.

"Donna," he wiped his forehead with his right hand. "I will be wearing a transmitter, a very small micro-chip which will allow you to hear everything that is going on. By rights they shouldn't be able to detect its heat signature and the beauty of this device is that it has a homing beacon in it so you will know my exact location at all times. Obtaining this information about the Armorinians past is essential to stopping this conflict from escalating further then it already has. It has to be done and I'm the only one who can do it. I'm the neutral side in this conflict working for both sides in an abstract sort of way."

Silence followed his words and Donna swallowed. "Okay, I understand, but I don't like it. If anything happens to you," she poked him in the chest to emphasise her point," I won't hesitate to come running, alright? And I won't be feminine about it either."

The Doctor grinned, his eyes alight with humour. "Donna Noble, you would give them one heck of a surprise. Come on, you can at least watch me depart. I will come back though, I can promise you that."

**To be continued... **

**Please let me know what you think! **

**Chapter Three will be posted next Wednesday. **

**the-writer1988**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N) I think I have nearly finished writing this story now. Possibly one more chapter to write and then this story will be done. If so then updates will be quicker rather then only once a week. :)**

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* * *

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**Chapter Three**

Donna stood in the monitoring room watching the signals that signified the Doctor's life signs and whereabouts. Beside her stood the Minister of Prestine, Ager Laris. He had reluctantly agreed to the Doctor's plan. He didn't want the war to last any longer then necessary but he felt that peace between his people and the Armorinians was impossible to achieve. They believed that the Prestinians had stolen their planet which they had not visited for over twenty thousand years. From his own observations the Armorinians were a space-faring people whose home they had abandoned so long ago in favour of wandering the stars. They had spent so long out there that it amazed him to no end that they still remembered the co-ordinates of their home planet. The Doctor, before his departure had explained his theory to him that the Armorinians had returned to their home planet expecting it to be as they remembered, but the fact that new life had found its place had made them rethink their stance. They hadn't expected their world to be home to another species – and despite their wondering – it was entirely possible for them to not know that different species originated on the same planet if the first peoples departed. The economy needed to survive and the Prestinians had evolved to make that happen, but the Armorinians wouldn't accept that. Even though Ager found it preposterous that his people's enemies had spent twenty thousand years wandering the universe and had finally returned to their home planet, the Doctor's reasoning made sense due to the fact that during his life his people had unearthed many unidentified buildings and technology which resembled that of modern Armorinian machinery today. It was not impossible for the Armorinians to originate from Prestine…

All he could do was hope that the Doctor could solve the puzzle and initiate peace. He didn't want a war, but one had been raging for ten years already – the Minister didn't want the situation to escalate more than it already had done.

"Minister Laris!" a sub-ordinate called. "We're getting the first transmission through!"

"Excellent. If you patch it through to mine and Miss Noble's station, we will listen through. Encrypt it so that only myself, Miss Noble and Captain Ricka can hear the transmission."

"Yes sir," the man saluted and turned back to his task after sorting out the appropriate channels.

Donna sat between Ager and Ricka, a pair of earphones on her head. Through them she could hear the Doctor's voice as well as General Sansheraz as they discussed the past, the present and the future of the survival of both races. She hoped that nothing bad would happen to the Doctor but she couldn't help having this intense fear for him. Like Ager, all she could do was monitor the conversation and hope that the Doctor would come back to her, safe and sound.

* * *

The rendezvous was a space station – a small one, not very well known in the outer galaxy – it was designed as a rest stop but it had holdings that were adequate to hold an important meeting. The Doctor had taken one of the Prestinian Scanner fighters. It was a small one manned craft that the Doctor was able to pilot. It had taken him four hours to reach the shuttle, in which time he had planned what to say to the General of the Armorinians. He had contacted the space station upon approach and had been sent a bay space. The fighter was small and nimble enough that it hardly took up any room in the docking area. Exiting his transport, the Doctor had been escorted to a security room where tests were carried out. He was disconcerted by them but he had no choice – he had agreed to go through with them in order to get this meeting. It was the price. He waited patiently as they took samples of his blood, x-rayed his body and took a swab of sweat from underneath his armpit. Once that was done they scanned him for weapons. As a precaution he had left his Sonic Screwdriver with Donna. The small chip sewed into the inside of his boxers was discreet enough not to give off any energy or heat signatures. Finally with the tests complete, he was led to the main lounge and he sat down on a chair, his elbows leaning on the table, waiting for the General to arrive and for the meeting to begin.

He sat back as the door slid open and in walked a man in black uniform. His hair was gelled back, and his eyes were yellow, his lips thin and his nose overly large on such a small face. Even by his presence in the room, the Doctor already knew that peace was the last thing on the General's mind. He had a nasty feeling that the tests he had been subjected to was for a far darker purpose.

The Doctor pushed back his fear and stared the man right in the eyes, implying through looks alone he was not the type of person he would walk over. Appearances could be deceiving. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"As I understand it General Sanseraz from Minister Ager Laris of Prestine, you claim you arrived above world ten years ago – returning home after so many thousands of years away. You also believe that Ager and his people stole from you, your home world. Is that correct?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes it is and I will continue to believe it. Prestine," spat the General, "is our world, our birth planet. Minister Ager refuses to accept this."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Just as you refuse to accept that the Prestinians evolved over the twenty-thousand years your people have been exploring the stars."

"It takes millennia for species to evolve into a space-faring people. The Armorinians are proof of that," stated the General, glory echoing in his voice. He was proud of his people's achievements. "If the Prestinians evolved during our time away they would not have reached the level of advancement they are at now."

The Doctor chose not to point out that the Prestinians had found old technology beneath the surface which had, ironically, advanced their evolution. Even though, at the time, they had been unable to use the equipment discovered, the presence of the technology had enabled the Prestinians to advance quicker then normal, but they would still be an advance people in twenty thousand years regardless. For a species that had spent the better part of thirty thousand years cruising and exploring space, they were incredibly naïve about the concept of evolution. It was time, however, to attempt to gain some knowledge of the history of the Armorinians. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. "Can you tell me when your people left Prestine?"

"The exact date is lost in our official records, however by best estimation, nearly twenty-two thousand years ago. Why?" The General replied, suspiciousness evident in his voice.

"No reason," the Doctor leaned back.

"You have a very good reason to ask it. Tell me why you are intent on our history when that is not part of the problem or the solution to this war."

The General was obviously very perceptive, so the Doctor decided that the truth could be best – or a version of it at least. "Because I happen to believe that piecing together the past is the solution to this problem." He took a deep breath and made an announcement that he was sure would put him in a lot of danger, but it was a risk he had to take. "It's my job – I'm a Time Lord. I monitor the time lines and when I have accurate information I can fill in the missing pieces – which is why I need data on your species personal time line in order to fit together the puzzle that is presented to me. If I can prove to you that Minister Laris's people did evolve while you were away, then both of us can work together to provide a peaceful solution which means that neither of you lose this war. It's a fair game."

There was a hint of a triumphant flash in Sansheraz's eyes as if the Doctor had said something that was of immense interest to him. Saying that he was a Time Lord had probably been that.

"You do speak a lot of sense – clearing up our history might prove to be an excellent idea," admitted the General. "Very well, I will share with you our history in hopes that peace can be achieved."

"Thank you," nodded the Doctor, politely, but he knew admitting that he was a Time Lord would make him a target of assassination of the Armorinians. If the Armorinians were capable of remembering the co-ordinates of the original home world after thousands of years then they would certainly have heard (and believe) about the legend of the Time Lords. He sat back, folding his arms and listening to what General Sansheraz had to say, ensuring that he stayed on his guard.

* * *

"We left out planet because we decided to explore. Our planet's eco-system had almost been destroyed by our tampering and we thought we could find a better planet to live and breed on. So we left. The exact date we left is lost, but as I told you earlier it was over twenty thousand years ago. We have spent most of our time in space, building a space fleet, hoping to find a perfect planet to settle on but we, as a people, though all of us have never set foot on Armori, desired to set foot upon it – return back home. So we began our arduous journey back a thousand years ago. I was just six years old – Armorinians can live up to three thousand years – with help of course. Naturally, without intervention we can live for one thousand five hundred years. The journey had lasted long and we never expected to return to find out home populated by another species. When we issued demands as to why they were on our world they claimed ignorance saying that they didn't know what we meant and so we told them that we came from that planet. They claimed that was impossible so we issued demands: if they would not admit that they recognised the planet as our own, we would commence hostilities. They refused – we had no choice but to keep our world and devastate our planet in an attempt to drive them off world. Since then the war has been fought. This war will continue until they give in."

"Or until it is established that you both originate from the same land," the Doctor pointed out.

"Perhaps…" the General said smoothly.

There was silence between Donna, Ager and Ricka as the General finished speaking to the Doctor. Neither of them dared to speak, afraid that the enemy would hear their voices and realise that they were being spied on. The voice that came over the receiver was now the Doctor's.

"Interesting history you have there…I'm certain that you have been told the history of the Prestinians so there is no need to elaborate on that." The Doctor cleared his throat. "Shall we proceed to discussing terms of a peace treaty – we might as well if my research into your past does reveal both Armorinians and Prestinians are brethren…it will make resolving this conflict quicker if we have laid out terms and conditions in advance."

"Yes, of course," answered the General, his soft and meaningful. "Please do continue."

And so the meeting went on as the Doctor outlined the obligations of a peace treaty that would pertain to both sides. After a rudimentary agreement had been reached, General Sansheraz and the Doctor parted ways.

Once that was done Donna Noble could finally breathe the sigh of relief she had been holding ever since the conversation had started.

* * *

"You aren't thinking of accepting the peace treaty are you?" asked Captain Berata of the second unit squad. He was aghast that General Sansheraz was even considering the proposals that the man known as the Doctor had set forth. If they accepted the terms they would be sharing their world with pirates and thieves. Even the Supreme Commander was angry that this conversation had taken place without her authorisation.

General Sansheraz chuckled as he turned to face his subordinate. "No, I will not be accepting the treaty."

Berata's face had a shocked expression on his face as he tried to work out what his General meant. "But if you don't mean to accept then why have you sent a message to the Prestinian government accepting the treaty?" he asked, slightly confused. "Surely if you don't mean it then you wouldn't be making arrangements to sign the deal officially?"

"Can I trust you soldier?" enquired Sansheraz.

Berata bit his lip, but saluted to his commanding officer. "You can, Sir! Anything you say in this room will remain strictly confidential."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Sansheraz leaned forward and spoke into the Captain's ear. "That Doctor is a Time Lord. The tests he foolishly submitted to confirmed his species, though not much is known about them. We were fortunate to run into a Time Lady in our travels through the stars – he is the male of the species. You must know that our technology is powered by very powerful telepathic beings. Our current component is coming to the end of its life…and the Time Lord would be an ideal replacement. However, in order to get hold of him I need to entice him to return…"

Berata caught on and finished the sentence. "And the only way you can achieve that is to accept the treaty and betray the agreement at the last minute."

"Exactly," smiled the General. "The Supreme Commander must not be informed of this. She is allowing me to continue with the treaty because even Arkia suspects there is more to this then really meets the eye. She is intrigued and though I am risking my own life and reputation to get this Time Lord, I feel it is worth it and I am sure once the Supreme Commander is told the truth she will come round to my way of thinking. It is a risk I am prepared to take. With the Time Lord we will have unlimited power. Power that will give us the ammunition we need to destroy the Prestinians and end this ridiculous war. All I am concerned about is ensuring that our people survive. You must not tell anyone of what has passed between us today."

"I won't," said Berata, standing to attention. "I entered this service because of you. I have a good feeling that our battle is coming to an end and that we will be dining on our world by the end of the year."

Smiling gently Sansheraz said: "I am glad that you have faith in me." He had known all along that Captain Berata would support him in his plan that could lead to the end of the war for good.

* * *

"Donna!" the Doctor croaked as his companion crushed him. He hadn't expected Donna to be so needy or emotional over him departing or returning. She was tough as nails! She had certainly surprised him a lot during their travels. "What's up?"

Donna wiped her eyes. They were slightly red and puffy as if she had been crying. She then whacked him on the arm. "Don't do that again!" She yelled at the top of her voice.

"What was that for?" he whined, rubbing the place where she had punched him.

Donna sighed. "You probably won't believe me but I had a horrible feeling that I would never see you again – it felt so strong that when you left I was certain that you were walking into a trap."

"Ah," nodded the Doctor. "You are relieved that your feelings have not come true and that you are annoyed that you worried for no reason?"

"Yes," she replied softly.

The Doctor frowned, "You do realise that I will probably be required to escort Minister Laris to the signing of the treaty if they accept the terms and conditions? It would be my duty to oversee it since I was the one who negotiated it after all. But I don't think they will, unless they caught on what I told them about myself."

"What do you mean?" enquired Donna, folding her arms.

The Doctor hesitated, playing with his earlobe. "I sort of let slip that I was a Time Lord."

"You did what?" Donna yelled. Her face had gone red.

The Doctor shrugged. "It was necessary to reveal that information otherwise I wouldn't have been able to convince the General to talk about the Armorinians history." He put his hands in his pockets. "I may have put myself in great danger but if it helps solve this problem then it is worth it. Besides, were you not listening in? Surely you would have heard me mentioning that I was a Time Lord?"

Donna glared. "I was worried about you, martian boy! Do you really think that I was paying attention to the finer details?"

"Good point," mused the Doctor remembering that before he had met Donna she had been unable to see the bigger picture. Perhaps it was time to come clean with her? "Donna? You've been getting these feelings recently, haven't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

He bit his lip, obviously not liking what he was about to admit. "I've been getting them to. Whether you believe it or not, Donna, you are important to solving this situation. I don't know what it is that makes you special but something or someone is coming that will help you. Vague feelings that I've pieced together suggest that I am not the one who will solve this problem. Someone else will and I know it will be you, Donna Noble."

He looked so stubborn, so sure of himself that Donna did not have the heart to tell him that she wasn't special or important. She was just a temp from Chiswick – an ordinary human being with no amazing qualities that made her stand out or that would enable her to solve this war. The Doctor was wrong and one day he would come to understand that Donna Noble was a no-one: a person who was insignificant. Until he realised this, all Donna could do was keep rebuking his attempts to make her seem like something she was not. She perused her lips and waited for the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them to end.

Finally the Doctor started to walk away, hands thrust deep into his pockets. "I need to discuss a few things with Minister Laris. Coming?"

"Yeah," replied Donna, eager to break the ice that had unintentionally formed. Inwardly she thought: _I am not special; I am just a temp. One day the Doctor would admit that. _

Little did Donna know that she was destined for great things, but it would take a lot more then the Doctor's words to convince her that she more than just a normal human being.

* * *

"They've what?" stammered the Doctor. He and Donna had just arrived in the control bunker that was situated within the Palace grounds. Ager Laris had quickly informed them that the Amorinian General had sent a message confirming their willingness to accept the terms of the treaty. "Looks like they caught on to my being a Time Lord…" he whispered in her ear.

Laris was definitely pleased with the Doctor's negotiation efforts. He pulled the bewildered Time Lord into a hug. "Come now Doctor! You should be pleased that your efforts amounted to something! You have helped solve this war!"

The Doctor put on a fake smile. "Oh…I am pleased." He couldn't help but worry that the Armorinians had something else up their sleeves. He had, after all, just told Donna that his own feelings said he wasn't destined to help these people. It was Donna. The General's acceptance of his terms meant that they were coming – not to honour the agreement – but to take him. He had suspected this all along that he would have to separate from Donna, leave her behind while he fought against them from the inside. However, now that it was becoming a reality he knew instinctively that his situation was just going to get worse and that he would not be the only one to suffer: Donna and the Prestinians would as well. He couldn't escape what had to be done. He glanced at the Minister who was busy issuing instructions to his staff, but deep in his gut he knew that Laris did not have long to live. He would have to die and the Doctor didn't like that one bit. Despite that, the Doctor knew he would also be a valuable asset to the Prestinians…he still had the micro-chip attached to him so they would be able to learn things from him still when he interacted with the Armorinians. He would still be useful but not in the way he wanted to be.

"DOCTOR!" shouted Donna, waving a hand in front of his eyes. He had zoned out for just a few seconds, consumed utterly in his thoughts.

"Sorry, was thinking about something. Lost track of time." Once again he put on a false smile to reassure the Minister that everything was fine, even though his hearts was telling him that things were just going to get drastically worse. He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry. Day-dreaming. You know how it is."

Donna rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "So, what is going on? What happens now?"

Minister Laris seated himself in a chair at a desk. "Allow me to explain the procedure in times such as these. I will communicate with General Sansheraz informing him of the time and place as to where the treaty will be signed. Once the treaty is signed and sealed, I will open our planetary shields and allow the Armorinians to arrive every few thousand to settle on our land. A conference will be held once the majority have settled where we can discuss what we can offer each other to ensure that we live a healthy and peaceful existence."

However, Donna's mind was racing. "Hold on, isn't a General a rather low position in the army? Surely Sanshewotsit…"

She was cut off as the Doctor said: "Sansheraz."

"Stop it skinny!" she yelled before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Anyway before martian boy interrupted me….Sansheraz wouldn't be able to accept a treaty or be authorised to bargain with you, would he? Surely if a treaty was to be negotiated you would be talking to the Admiral or the Commander of the Armorinians, but you didn't…?"

The Minister started pacing, hand on his chin, worry reflecting on his features. "You do have an interesting point. All I can assume is that the General has full authorisation from the Supreme Commander to negotiate….nevertheless I am confident that this is the real deal and not some cheap trick."

Donna swallowed, stepping back, accepting the Minster's decision.

"Doctor," Ager Laris turned towards the Time Lord. "I would be honoured if you would accompany me to oversee the signing of this treaty. As you were the one who set down the terms I feel it is only appropriate for you to witness this blessed event."

He exchanged a glance with Donna, but the Doctor could only nod in agreement. It was clear, that from her eyes, both felt that the Minister was going to die and that the war would escalate even further.

**To be continued... **

**Please let me know what you think. Next chapter will be posted next Wednesday. **

**the-writer1988**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N)** I nearly forgot to update this today... still ten minutes left of Wednesday for me as I type this, so just made it!

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**Chapter Four**

"This is a really bad idea," intoned Donna, as she shut the door to the room she shared with the Doctor in the palace. "You shouldn't be going with Ager! We both have that feeling – and if you accompany him you'll die too!"

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair, messing up his hair even more then it already was. "I don't like this any better than you do – but like many Prestinians, Ager believes in truth and honesty. They are more likely to believe that the Armorinians are serious about peace then not."

Donna folded her arms; her eyes alight with fire as she glared at the Doctor. "So you are just going to walk into their hands? Let them take you? Leave me behind? I would be useless, Doctor! These people need you and you are planning on letting yourself get caught, if the Armorinians do betray the treaty! They will kill you!"

"They may kill me: I like to think that they won't," admitted the Doctor. He waved a hand in Donna's direction: "But my point still stands – I am not important – you are Donna! You will be the person who ends this war – you may choose to disbelieve me but I know that it is you, Donna Noble. My fate is directly tied with yours."

"You are taking a huge risk with this Doctor!" she replied, choosing to ignore what he had said about her being important. She was just a temp: no-one special.

The Doctor placed his hands behind his back. "I am fairly confident that I am not going to die anytime soon."

He said that with such certainty that Donna almost believed him but she couldn't bring herself to believe that the Doctor would be safe, especially since he had willingly admitted he was a Time Lord. She shook her head. "I don't think they will keep you alive if they see you as a threat."

"Ah, to the contrary, I am more useful to them then you think – I just don't know what yet. I'll have to find out, won't I?" he grinned at her. "If the Armorinians are smart, which I believe they are, they won't waste my potential. The Prestinians acquire your help more then mine and the Armorinians need me. We are both going to survive this: trust me."

He had, once again, alluded to her being special. "No matter how much you say it Martian boy, you are not going to convince me that I am special."

Their eyes locked, challenging each other. "Fair enough," said the Doctor.

That was odd. The Doctor never gave up. But then….

"But you're still special," came the Doctor's voice, examining his right hand, refusing to look into her eyes.

"You are impossible," laughed Donna, lightly.

* * *

The Doctor stood beside Minister Ager Laris awaiting the delegates of the Armorinians. Ager had brought with him half of his security detail; however the Doctor had left his Sonic Screwdriver behind with Donna as she would need it more than him. He still had the tracking chip on him, allowing Donna to monitor any conversation that he may have. It was a handy little beacon as well, as it transmitted co-ordinates as to where he was at all times. He swallowed, glancing at the Minister. The meeting between the two sides was being held in the same place that the Doctor had met the General before.

"This day will make Prestinian history!" exclaimed Ager. "A special day indeed: peace at last!"

The Doctor allowed a fake smile to cross his features but he couldn't even pretend that well. He knew that Ager was never going to see his daughter again. Auraya's whole life was going to change and neither of them knew it. It was cruel and twisted fate but no matter how much he argued with himself or Donna, he knew deep down that Ager's death was necessary in the grand scheme of things. He couldn't prevent it, otherwise Donna wouldn't be able to fulfil her destiny.

They were facing the door that led out of the conference room. It slid open revealing General Sansheraz and his own escorts. He marched into the room; it was obvious by the expression on his face that he was confident that this whole meeting would meet his own ends. Sansheraz was smiling and he bowed his head, rose and took the Minister's proffered hand, shaking it.

"It is an honour to meet you at last, Minister," said the General, bending down to the kiss the back of Ager's hand. Turning his attention to the Doctor, the General nodded to him. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance once more, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled but did not reply.

Ager turned away from the General so that he was facing the table that was situated behind them. "Please sit," he offered.

The General took his place at one head of the table, while Ager took the other. The Doctor stood next to Ager placing his hands behind his back. He kept his eyes focused on Sansheraz, not trusting him one bit. It would be just a moment of waiting for the General to make his move that would ultimately end in Ager's life being terminated.

Placed on the table was a briefcase which Ager had brought with him, which contained all the official documents that both he and Sansheraz would go through and then sign at the end, making the peace treaty a certainty. He carefully took out the fifty-page document, which Donna had duly typed out for them.

"In order to begin our final step towards peace," began Ager, "I would like to go through all the amendments that the Doctor put forward in the treaty and ensure that they are all to your satisfaction. I do not want to force you to do something that you don't want to do. Do you agree?"

"I do," replied the General. For a brief second his eyes focused on the Doctor.

It was in that split second of eye-contact that the Time Lord realised that the General would wait till the end of the meeting before breaking the treaty. He would give Ager hope and assurance that this was the real deal. The Doctor hoped that his feelings were wrong and yet he knew they were not. His head was pounding and he could feel something pulling him at the back of his mind. Something was distracting him and he didn't know what it was…it felt familiar…something he hadn't felt for a very long time… He shook his head understanding that if he didn't pay attention he might pay a bigger price then he was intending to.

He stood there, beside Ager's chair, as the two went through the treaty. General Sansheraz agreed to every single demand. The Doctor watched as Ager become more and more enthused at the General's assurances that peace would occur between them; that the Doctor couldn't help feeling even more guilty then he already felt. This man was going to die… He briefly considered warning Ager of the danger and death that awaited him, but he couldn't do that no matter how much his hearts were telling him to ignore the feelings…

"Agreement two hundred and fifty," continued Ager, picking up the last piece of paper. "The Armorinians must uphold our laws and respect our right to live on Prestine. In junction with this law, the Prestinians must abide by the Armorinians own right to follow their traditions as long as those traditions are not harmful to the Prestinians. Do you agree for your people to abide by this law?"

Reaching across the table the General shook the Minister's hand. "I do."

"Then the only thing left for us to do is make it official," beamed Ager, clapping his hands together. "All we need to do now is to sign the document." He picked up a pen and scribbled his signature on the appropriate line and then printed his full name underneath that. He slid the document across the table into Sansheraz's waiting hands. He picked up a pen and placed it upon the dotted line….

The Doctor's breath stalled in his throat. This was it. The moment of betrayal….

And then it ended.

A gun-shot.

Ager Laris slumped to the table completely dead.

Though the Doctor had expected Ager to be killed, he hadn't expected it to happen like that. He had thought that the General would gloat before murdering the Minister but then it occurred to him that the death had to have been swift otherwise Ager's guards would have interfered. He was dragged out of his thoughts by someone grabbing his arm and dragging him away from the table. He noted that the General had slipped out of the room.

"Sir, you must get to the shuttle and leave," instructed the guard, training a gun on one of Sansheraz's guards. A battle had broken out with bolts of death being trained on any enemy guards. They were being picked off one at a time.

Taking the hint the Doctor made a run for the exit but a stinging pain shot up his arm. It took him a moment to realise that he had been shot. Blood was pouring onto his suit even as he tried unsuccessfully to stem the bleeding. He gritted his teeth, stumbling forward and then…

Pain shot up his left leg as another bullet burrowed its way into his flesh. He let out a cry of agony as his leg collapsed beneath him. He was leaning against the doorframe, unable to move, but he still tried to drag himself along the floor, ignoring the immense agony that was tearing through his wounds.

"Going somewhere, Time Lord?" asked a smooth voice from behind him.

The Doctor glanced up as General Sansheraz strolled towards him, his blaster trained on the Doctor's forehead. There was a triumphant grin on the General's face as he knelt down beside the Doctor. "You are ours now, Time Lord. I can't believe you fell for us accepting the treaty…" he laughed.

"I knew you would kill Ager," breathed the Doctor, "I knew you wouldn't accept the treaty. Your principles and way of life forbid you to."

The General sneered. "And yet, despite that, you still came." He clicked his fingers and two guards rushed forward. "Take him. Clean his wounds and place him in the holding cells." He glanced over his shoulder and the Doctor could see one of Ager's soldiers stirring. "I will deal with this one."

The Doctor would have put up a fight as the soldiers hauled him away but he was already too weak. He had to conserve his strength, especially if he was to survive this.

Donna did need him, after all.

* * *

The soldier that had been stunned by Sansheraz's men had been given explicit instructions to return Ager Laris's body to the Prestinians and to forward a message. The soldier had been spared because Sansheraz wanted to issue instructions to the people on the world. If they refused to surrender then they would bombard the planet, raze it to the ground until the last Prestinian had perished. Sansheraz knew his ultimatum would not be met, but the loss of their beloved leader would throw the planet into disarray. The Armorinians held the advantage – they had killed two birds with one stone: the Minister was dead and the most powerful being in the universe was their prisoner. It also helped that Sansharez's plan meant that their resident Time Lord would be very useful to them. He had not informed the soldier that the Doctor was their captive – he hoped that the Prestinians realised that they had no hope left.

"General," a voice from behind him said.

He swivelled on his heals coming face to face with a young recruit. "The prisoner is secured upon your ship." He saluted as he finished. It was customary to salute once the message had been delivered.

"Very good," smiled the General, clasping his long fingers behind his back. "You are dismissed."

Once the soldier had left, Sansheraz began his stroll to his waiting shuttle. He had been looking forward to discovering what made this Time Lord tick. They did, of course, have centuries to learn about him after all. This was just the beginning for the Doctor – he had a very long road ahead of him, one full of pain and brokenness.

Reaching his shuttle he placed his hand upon the security pad. It scanned his fingers, searching through the databases until it found the match and then a female voice said: "ID identified as General Sansheraz." The door slid open allowing him entrance to his ship. Striding confidently along the corridor, nodding to his crew members as he walked, Sansheraz stopped in front of a securely bolted door.

With little strength he managed to pull the bolts back, unlocking the door. He pushed it open and stepped inside. It was a plain room, painted white and inside this the Doctor had been placed. The shuttle was too small to have prison cells, so one of his staff cabins had been made into a small holding area for any prisoners they brought aboard. The only thing they had added to the room was chains which they could use to tie the prisoner to the wall.

However the Doctor was not chained at all. He was too physically weak to do any harm. It hadn't been deemed necessary to chain him. Sansheraz stepped up to the Time Lord, resting his gaze upon the pale face, but he noticed that his eyes were burning with intelligence and understanding, and for a moment the General was utterly afraid of this injured being. Raw power seemed to shine in the being's eyes, utterly consuming him and making him wonder if he had truly done the right thing in capturing this unique creature. He shook it off, refusing to let himself be intimidated by this morsel of a man. His plan wouldn't succeed if he didn't feel comfortable with what he had to do to him to win this war. The gun-shot wounds that the Doctor had acquired had been bandaged and the bullets removed and his skin stitched together. His healers had also used an anti-biotic cream to ensure that the skin would heal quickly and efficiently. Within a couple of days the Time Lord would be at full strength and ready for their purpose.

"Are you just going to stare at me all day? Or are you going to gloat and rejoice in the fact that you managed to trick me, despite the fact I knew in advance you would never sign the treaty?"

Sansheraz jumped back, surprised that the prisoner had even spoken to him. It took him a few seconds before he recovered from the shock, however he composed himself quickly. "No, I am not going to gloat – there would be no point in that meaningless task."

"Good, I am glad that you at least have some sense," replied the Doctor, a slight smug smile pulling at his lips.

Sansheraz chose to ignore that comment, and instead said: "I am looking forward to hearing you scream."

"Really?"

"Yes," stated the General.

The Doctor cocked his head to the side. "I won't oblige."

Sansheraz smiled a cold, cruel and calculating smile. "Oh, you will, I can promise you that."

The Doctor just raised his left eyebrow.

Sansheraz loomed threateningly forward, his face levelled with the Doctor's. "Everyone breaks in the end. It is only a matter of time and method."

"We'll see about that," smirked the Doctor.

Sansheraz laughed and turned his back on the Time Lord, closing and locking the door behind them. "He is a fool, but an intriguing one nonetheless."

* * *

Prestine was in mourning. The death of Ager Laris had halted the lives of so many of his people. None of them had even considered that the Armorinians would sink so low as to pretend to be interested in peace. Donna had watched as the body of the Minster was brought down from his shuttle. All the murdered guards had also been returned to them, but no Doctor. She knew he was still alive – they had heard what the General said to him after he had been shot. The tracking beacon and the micro-chip hadn't been detected – yet – so they had a means of listening in on any conversation the Doctor had or was prior to. Donna knew that the Armorinians were not stupid but it was a miracle that the chip had managed to stay undetected for so long.

"Donna Noble."

Donna turned to face Auraya Laris. It was clear that she had been crying. Her hair stuck up and her eyes were red with tears. Tear stains were evident on her cheeks. The girl looked so lost and forlorn that Donna pulled her into a hug and wrapped her arms around her back, rubbing her gently. She stood back, grasping the girl by her shoulders. Auraya had done a lot of growing up in the last few days. She had bravely taken on her late father's duties, conducting herself in a manner that was fitting for a person of the post of Minister.

Auraya wiped her eyes clean. "What are you going to do?" she asked, her voice trembling but she was trying to keep it strong and unwavering.

Donna shrugged, pursing her lips. "No idea. I can't leave. The Doctor is the only one who can pilot his ship otherwise I would go in and get him out myself." Though he had been teaching her how to fly the TARDIS, Donna did not have enough experience to do it herself, nor did he know how to set co-ordinates to places. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she offered.

Auraya nodded. "I was thinking that maybe you would be interested in joining us in our battle? Not as a soldier but as someone in administration? I figured you would like to keep an eye upon the transmissions from the chip?"

"Sure, I've trained as a temp in offices. Back on my home planet, before I met the Doctor that was what I did. Besides if it means what I'm doing helps the Doctor, then I'm all for it."

Auraya took Donna's hand in her own. "Then I'd better introduce you to those who you will be working with, shouldn't I?"

Donna allowed a faint smile to cross her features. It didn't feel right to be smiling in front of Auraya, not after what had happened to the girl's father, and the fact that the Doctor was in enemy hands didn't help matters either. She bit her lip, the Doctor's image coming to the forefront of her brain. She would see him again, and she would do anything in her power to get the Doctor back safe and sound.

She followed Auraya through the corridors of the palace, twisting and turning until the girl stopped in front of a plain wall. Glancing round, Auraya ensured that no one had followed them. She placed her hand directly in the centre of the wall and to Donna's amazement the wall slid open revealing stairs that descended into darkness. There must be a pressure pad installed behind the wall registered only to Auraya and her father.

"That's nifty!" exclaimed Donna.

Auraya nodded. "It leads to our underground bunker that father and I use when there is an attack imminent. It keeps us safe. Come on." She led the way down the stairs with Donna following. The wall slid shut behind them sending them into darkness, however the girl had brought a torch with her and she shone it in front of her allowing Donna to see where she was placing her feet. The stairs were quite steep. "This tunnel is rarely used but it leads to a small facility that was built underground. The people who work in the facility have their own entrance to use, however since you are my guest, I will add your DNA signature to the system so that you don't have to go outside the city just to get back here. This is the easier option for you."

"You don't need to do this for me," began Donna but she was cut off by Auraya.

"Father was going to put you and the Doctor on the system anyway, just in case the Armorinians tried anything once they arrived on world if the treaty had gone the way father was hoping it to. Unfortunately it didn't go the way we intended…" she swallowed, biting back tears that were threatening to cascade down her cheeks.

"Ager thought something was up?" asked Donna. "But he told us that it was genuine acceptance…"

"He did, but then he began to have doubts, but it was too late to pull out of the meeting. I think he knew deep down that she was going to die," said Auraya sadly, "but he still tried to believe that the treaty was genuine. And he lost his life for it…but I wonder if it was meant to be?"

"How do you mean?" questioned Donna, intrigued by this young woman's words. Auraya had grown from a girl to a woman in the course of a few days. The murder of her father had ensured that.

Auraya waved her hand in dismissal of the subject. All she said was "feelings". It was obvious that the new Minister did not wish to divulge her secret and Donna could understand that. Still she had a clue to work from. She was sure, given enough time, that she would be able to work out the meaning behind the word "feelings". Whatever it was, was affecting Donna as well, she was certain of it.

Silence reigned down upon them and Donna too the chance to change the subject. "How many steps are there?" It feels like as if we have gone down at least two hundred steps…!"

Auraya threw a grin over her shoulder. "You have. Five hundred steps altogether. The base was dug deep underground. It's our only means of surviving a direct attack on the palace."

Donna could understand that. "Good thinking."

Eventually they came to the bottom of the stairs. Auraya led them into a steel corridor, turned right at a junction and then placed her hand against another wall and a door slid open allowing them entrance to the proper command bunker. Two soldiers were standing to attention outside a door in the new corridor Donna and Auraya had emerged into.

"M'am!" The two soldiers snapped to attention.

"It is an honour for you to visit. I am deeply sorry about your father. He was a great man."

"Thank you. Please, stand down, Ricka," said Auraya. "And you, Demot."

The two soldiers obeyed.

Auraya indicated to Donna. "This is Donna Noble. She will be joining you in administration. I am certain you have heard about the unique situation regarding her friend, the Doctor?"

"I have," replied the soldier whose name was Ricka.

"Donna will be monitoring the discussions – he could pass on hidden messages in his words and Donna may be the only person capable of deciphering them. She may also be suitable for data entry. I would appreciate it if Donna was included in any meetings you may have."

Ricka nodded. "I'm sure that can be arranged."

"Excellent. Now if you will excuse me I must introduce Donna to the team she will be working with. I expect, for you, to look out for Miss Noble. And, please can you also inform the relevant personnel that I would like to hold a war council this afternoon to discuss our strategies and the goals we are heading for. As of this moment," Auraya's gaze hardened, "we are at war."

The transformation in Auraya was great. Her father's death had changed her in so many ways that even Donna wondered if the girl knew what she was doing. Young and inexperienced as Auraya was, inciting a war was not a good thing for anyone, but Donna realised that the General murdering her father in cold blood had constituted as an act of war. As Minister, Auraya was endorsing that action because it had to be done. It was either fight for their lives or be killed.

Donna couldn't help wishing that the Doctor was here. But he wasn't and that was making the situation worse than it already was. Sighing, she followed the girl further into the base, preparing herself mentally for what was to come.

**To be continued...**

**Please let me know what you think!**

**Next update will be Wednesday. **

**the-writer1988**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N) Apologies for the wait, I have been forgetting to update and realised today I was supposed to. In compensation for my very bad memory in updating this story, I am posting three chapters at once to make up for the two weeks I've missed. I have no finished this story completely, so will be updating Saturday's and Wednesday's. **

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**WARNING: **_This chapter has a bit of nastiness in it!_

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**Chapter Five**

Upon arriving back at the home fleet, General Sansheraz was called to the Supreme Commander's Office where she promptly laid into him why he was facing execution for his unauthorized actions. He had not even consulted her about organising a treaty. She demanded answers and he knew he couldn't disobey her. It was time to enlighten her about his plan and the resources he had put in place.

"I have been acting alone for a long time, trying to figure out the best way to defeat the Prestinians. I do have spies within the military on Prestine who keep me up-to-date on any advances or plans they may have under construction. That is the first thing that I feel you should know. The second, which is probably the most important to you is the issue of the treaty. I was contacted first – I did not initiate it. The man I spoke to intrigued me and I thought that there wasn't any harm in meeting with him. Before I accepted to a meeting I made him promise to submit to various tests. I thought he was a Prestinian despite his claim to me that he was Time Lord – it turned out through my tests that he is one. The Doctor – that's his name or one that he goes by – is a Time Lord. He has so much psychic potential that I took it upon myself to capture him and connect him up to our system. I understand that you are not happy with using powerful and intellectual beings but with this Doctor we are guaranteed to win this war. I accepted the treaty on that basis – so that we had a means to end the war for good."

"And killing Minister Ager Laris was necessary?" the Supreme Commander asked, her voice soft and silky.

"I am afraid so." His voice was filled with regret but it was not genuine.

"His daughter," continued Supreme Commander Arkia, "Auraya has declared war on us – a full scale one. They are building up their armies even as we speak. You could have consulted me on this plan of yours. I had heard rumours of the Time Lord's existence on Prestine through other means. I would have gone along with your idea."

"You would?"

"Yes, I would. We cannot allow our enemies to have such a powerful creature on their side. I may be against using intelligent telepathic beings but a Time Lord is in a category all of its own. I must meet him myself before he is connected to our systems."

Sansheraz nodded, saluting Arkia. "I am sure that can be arranged as soon as possible.

"Good." Her hard green eyes locked onto Sansheraz's. "You can retain your rank and life – however I expect you to get authorisation from me in the future. Do not go behind my back again."

"I won't." Sansheraz bowed and marched from the room.

* * *

The Doctor gazed around his new prison wondering if he would be able to find a way out. By the looks of things: no. He was in complete darkness, the walls made of iron. His hands were chained above his head, so tight around his wrists that he felt the bones grinding against the metal. He had been moved from the cell he had been kept in, in the shuttle and transferred to this one. He knew he was on a space-ship of some sort. They had blindfolded him from the journey to the shuttle to this cell.

Leaning back against the wall, he waited.

He didn't know how long he waited, consumed in his thoughts, but eventually the door opened and in stepped two people, one he recognized as General Sansheraz. Their gazes were fixed entirely upon him.

His other visitor was a tall, wiry woman in red uniform. Her skin was dark and her green eyes shone in excitement as they passed over the Doctor. He assumed by looking at the badge on her chest that she was the Supreme Commander, the one in charge. He locked gazed with her, challenging her.

She didn't break contact. She wasn't afraid of him then. Her voice was silky and smooth as she spoke. "So you are the last remaining Time Lord alive in the universe."

There was no harm in replying with the truth. "Yes."

"And you are our prisoner," the woman continued.

"Certainly looks like it," he commented. "Though, I confess, I am intrigued as to why I am still alive. Most powerful being in the universe at your mercy and you are keeping me alive? Consider me baffled."

The Supreme Commander laughed. "You are far more useful to us alive then dead." She stepped forward and placed a hand on his head.

The Doctor gasped as a dark pressure pressed down upon him. He gritted his teeth, fighting back the urge to scream. He refused to give them the satisfaction. Just as quickly as it had come, the pressure died away as the Commander removed her hand. He sighed in relief.

"That is just a taster," she spat, "of what is to come."

He didn't reply, just glared.

Then she grabbed his chin lifting his head up till his throat was exposed. From her belt she retrieved a sharp dagger. She pressed it firmly against his skin. His skin cracked as she slowly moved the dagger across…small droplets of blood slid down his neck. He didn't flinch, he wasn't even afraid…well maybe a little bit.

Quickly she shifted the blade from his throat to his right cheek and cut the skin deeper then she had down at his throat. He hissed.

"Good, good," muttered the Supreme Commander.

"What's good?" demanded the Doctor.

"That you show affinity for not being afraid, but you should know this: it is not wise for you to fight against me. I am Supreme Commander Arkia of the Armorinians."

"I won't help you," stated the Doctor, "no matter what you do to me. I will never willingly aid you."

Arkia shrugged appearing unconcerned by his stubbornness. "It doesn't matter – you will have no choice in whether you help us or not." She turned to General Sansheraz who had remained quiet throughout their confrontation. "General, take him to the labs. I want him prepared and ready to be connected to the machines – he is not allowed the comfort of unconsciousness."

"Yes, m'am!" saluted Sansheraz.

The Doctor had the ominous feeling he was in for a whole world of pain.

* * *

He was right. He struggled against the bonds that held him though he knew it was futile. The Doctor lay on his front on a cold metal table. His ankles and wrists tied down. His head was held up so that he could see in the mirror, (that was situated in front of him), what exactly they were doing to him.

Immense pain spread up his back and he gritted his teeth, struggling not to voice his agony. He could see an Armorinian holding a small metal chip, while another cut a small hole in the top of his back. They placed the chip inside his body before connecting wires to it and then sewing the skin together. They were turning him into a machine – making him adaptable with their systems so they could use his abilities to win their war. He was becoming the component in their main frame…which was something he really didn't want to do.

He let out a hiss of pain as they tested a small device on the technology they had placed inside him. Small electric surges rushed through his body. It wasn't powerful enough to harm him, but it still hurt.

Next they cut a bit of skin from both his arms and inserted two chips either-side before adding wires, and then sewing his skin together once more. The Doctor arched against the agony. He was breathing quite hard, trying to keep himself conscious. Then he heard the sharpening of a knife and he feared the worst….

The knife flashed in the mirror and he realised with dread what its destination was. He felt it slide down his skin that covered his spine. He could feel blood seeping through the incision drenching his skin. He gasped as one of the scientists hands had pressed down hard upon the wound. He glimpsed in the mirror a long thin wire with electrodes sewn onto it.

"You can't…" he hissed almost begging for them to stop. It was getting dark, his vision burning. They were killing him slowly without even meaning to. He was losing his identity bit by bit.

A voice called out: "Don't let the darkness take him!"

Dimly he recognized the dulcet tones of General Sansheraz.

He twisted his head violently ignoring the pain that spread throughout his entire body due to that action. He couldn't let them own him…but he realised it was futile – that they would complete the upgrades. Realistically they would win this round but it didn't matter because even if he did submit he would still be able to fight against them mentally.

The Doctor felt a needle press into the back of his neck, stilling his movements. Numbness.

"Paralyzing drug so that you can't struggle," said a deep voice he did not recognize. "It will still hurt though."

If he could have moved he would have done, but the drug made that impossible. Taking control of his mind he prepared himself for the agony that was yet to come.

* * *

He found himself being hauled carefully from the room once they had finished with the operation. He coughed, blood spurting from his mouth as he was taken through the corridor, wires trailing on the floor. So much pain…dried blood at each site of his wounds.

_Half machine, half Time Lord, _he thought. _Not something I thought would ever happen to me._

Eventually they brought him to the control room. Inside the room was a giant machine and entangled in the wires was a little girl. At the sight of her, the Doctor felt anger rise up inside him.

"You are using a child?"

General Sansheraz had been escorting him to his new home and turned his ugly, leering face at him. "Of course, but she will be set free and allowed to live. You are taking her place."

"Better me then her," he replied. "Did you force her to watch what was being done to her too?"

It was an accusation that Sansheraz hated. "No, we didn't. It was only you. We do not force our people into this. Her parents and the girl volunteered for this."

"And I bet they don't know the true nature of what you did to their daughter," snarled the Doctor.

"No they don't. The girl is unaware of it either. Unlike her, you have the ability to shield and protect your mind even in an unconscious state; therefore we can't allow you to sleep while we use your body as our energy resource. Rest assured that the girl will be treated well and healed before returning to a normal life. We are not inhumane, just a misunderstood species."

"Hah! You could have fooled me!" retorted the Doctor angrily.

A hand struck his cheek sending him sprawling as the guards released him. The fall had caused some of his wounds to re-open. They pulled him roughly to his feet, pushing him forwards, towards the machine that the girl was being disconnected from.

He watched as they pried the girl from the clutches of the machine and gently held her as they disconnected the wires from her body. A healer was on hand to examine the child. Once the little girl had been taken away, the Doctor was dragged across the centre of the room towards his place in the metallic contraption that the girl had so recently been a part of.

He struggled for what it was worth, but it didn't stop the scream ripping from his throat as the various connections violently stabbed into his body. Needles dug into the electrodes that had been inserted into his spine. As soon as the connection was complete he instantly felt this energy…his life source being taken from him.

The lights in the room got brighter and he realised with disdain they had made him into an energy convertor, just by operating on him.

But he wasn't going to give up that easily. Not a chance.

Bit by bit the Time Lord began to fight back, attempting to regain control of his body.

The lights began to dim…and then brightened again…but his vision was getting dark.

…and then pain…followed swiftly by darkness.

**To be continued... **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_**Two months later…**_

It was just another day for Donna Noble. She started her day eating beside the people she worked with but she hardly talked…Her thoughts were always on the Doctor and whether he was alright. Of course she knew he wasn't fine. He was in pain…so much pain. Four weeks ago the tracking beacon that the Doctor had been supplied with had been discovered by General Sansheraz. Their only way of knowing what the Armorinians were up to, had been lost. The Doctor had suffered dearly for that treachery. The General had made sure that Donna had heard it…she could still remember hearing his screams ringing in her ears as they punished him for daring to attempt to spy on them.

It hadn't been nice to listen to at all but Donna had vowed to get him back one way or another but she had yet to find a way to get into enemy territory undetected. She spent her nights getting as much sleep as she could in the TARDIS. Sometimes she wondered if she could attempt to pilot it and get the Doctor out herself…but she didn't want to risk it in case she lost herself in time and space. He had only given her a few driving lessons after all.

"Officer Noble?"

She looked up from the meal she was eating and recognized Ricka, the solider she had been first introduced to two months ago. It had turned out he was not just a soldier but the one in charge of the entire military, however he liked serving alongside everyone in his team and did all sorts of jobs that a normal Commander of the Military wouldn't do. It showed that Ricka was determined to not let his higher authority get in the way of his men and that he respected what his soldiers did even if it was something as menial as guard duty.

"Do you need me Sir?"

"We do," he inclined his head, motioning for Donna to walk out of the mess hall. "It is rather urgent that you come to the conference room."

"Okay," said Donna rising from her chair. Picking up the tray that had her half-eaten food on it, she returned it to the kitchen before following her commander back to the conference room. She had to wonder what was so urgent that they had interrupted her dinner. Still, she would find out soon enough.

* * *

He hung in the centre of the room, wires fed into his body, some of which were keeping him alive, some of which were slowly killing him. He coughed as he tried to move in the connections that held him. He was so tired, so weak…he barely had the strength to control himself. He had been fighting for so long that it was finally beginning to take its toll on him.

The Doctor closed his eyes and reached out with his mind seeking to find that familiar presence that he knew so well. The TARDIS. Back on Prestine, further away from him then he had ever been before. He could still sense her….and it comforted him in the pain that was wrecking his body. A slight smile came to his lips…

But then he sensed something else….his head was buzzing with two minds instead of one… Was there another Time Lord here? _No, don't be stupid…if there was another Time Lord here, Sansheraz would be bragging about it. It must be my imagination. _

Little did the Doctor know that he wasn't the last of his kind…someone else was out there and they were coming towards him.

* * *

She approached the fleet of starships with uttermost caution. She eased her own ship upwards, slowing its speed so that she was approaching slower then she had been. By rights, when she had emerged from hyperspace she should have turned and fled and yet something was dragging her in the direction of the fleet. There was a definite presence that was calling to her: a tingle reverberating in her mind. Something was in pain and projecting that outwards.

Jenny knew she couldn't ignore it – the call in her mind was full of pain and despair – it was begging to be investigated.

A light on her console board began to flash signaling an incoming communication. They had noticed her. She pressed the button that would allow her to communicate with those that were contacting her.

"Unidentified ship, you will identify yourself and your purposes in our system," said a stern voice over the com channel.

"My name is Jenny. I am just travelling around the galaxy, visiting places. I was intending on visiting the planet below…" she trailed off unsure of what else to say. She was still new at this stuff after all.

The gruff voice came back over the intercom. "You will power down your engines and prepare to be boarded."

"Acknowledged," replied Jenny. She sat back in her chair, wondering if it was worth running away. _No. _Her father wouldn't have run away so she wasn't going to either. Once she had powered down the ship, leaving only minimal power so that the two ships would be able to dock, Jenny leaned back and waited for her reception committee to arrive.

* * *

"Now, who are you?" repeated Sansheraz, glaring down at Jenny who had been strapped to a chair after being brought aboard the capital star ship of the fleet. The "reception committee" had been a trap in order to lure her aboard. They were not giving her any chances what-so-ever.

"I told you, my name is Jenny," she replied. "I don't have a surname or anything. If I did I would tell you."

He continued to glare at her, his eyes showing disbelief, however he nodded. "You seem quite perplexed as to why you are here."

"I am," she said.

"You have trespassed in our system and in accordance with our rules you must be detained and imprisoned. Only those with authorisation may approach us in this air-space. Are you suggesting that you didn't know about us?" he asked, trying to be kind as possible.

"I don't know much about the universe. I'm just exploring, each planet at a time, helping people whenever I can. I don't know anything about you or your species. If I did I wouldn't have come here."

She sounded genuinely apprehensive and confused. Reaching across he unstrapped the chains that had bound her to the chair. She was young and he couldn't keep her like this. She seemed intelligent too, someone they could perhaps use to their advantage. Someone who could be easily swayed into doing what they wanted.

He would fill her in, oh yes he would.

* * *

"The Armorinians, as you know, moved into position to blockade Prestine a few days ago. Our planetary shields are still holding against the bombardment," explained Ricka to the war council. "But they won't hold forever. Sooner or later they will get through and then kill us all."

Auraya stood to the side, her arms folded across her chest. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and she wore army overalls that fitted loosely over her body. No longer was she serene and beautiful, instead she was hard and sad. These days Auraya hardly smiled. "What can we do?"

"We have two options. The first of these is to take the fight to them in whatever capable fighting starships we have. The second is to negotiate a surrender. Much as I hate to suggest that, we can't afford to have our entire population wiped out," explained Ricka.

"I will not submit to surrender," said Auraya, bluntly. Her eyes darkened. "It is the coward's way out. They killed my father, and we will extract vengeance for it. So far we have been bombarded constantly. They think I'm weak. Tomorrow morning, I will make a public announcement. We will get fighters made; people will be brought in to train as war pilots. The Armorinians have an army up there. More than one thousand star-ships, fully manned. We may be looking at death, but we can go our fighting and bringing their ships down is the first way to go."

"But what about the Doctor?" questioned Donna, her voice low. "He's up there. Trapped. If you start attacking the fleet, you could destroy the ship he is on."

Auraya shook her head. "We won't. He's being held on the flagship which is at the heart of the formation. We won't destroy that one. Once we've taken out as many of their ships as possible, we'll try to infiltrate the fleet." She focused her eyes upon Ricka. "Any other news?"

He nodded, solemnly. "We noted a small star-ship enter the system a few hours ago. The Armorinians captured it, and whoever was aboard, was taken. The star-ship has been left to orbit above our world. We've got a fuzzy satellite image of it, if you would care to look at it." He handed Auraya a printed off image.

"Do we know where it is from and the manufacturer?"

"Sadly, no," replied Ricka, holding his hands behind his back. "It is not one we recognise."

"Donna?" Auraya passed the picture towards Donna, who took it in her hands, inspecting the image.

Her eyebrows rose in alarm as she recognised the ship. She had seen one like it before... not that long ago in fact. It couldn't be, could it? Unlikely though it was, Donna had to concede that the star-ship in orbit was exactly like the one she had seen with the Doctor and Jenny on Messaline. It wouldn't be the only one of its make in the universe, but she had to wonder...

"You know it, don't you?" prodded Auraya, her intense gaze settled completely on the ginger-haired woman.

Donna nodded. "Yeah... but I dunno the make of it. I've just seen it before... I dunno how wide-spread it is or anything... If the Doctor was here, he'd be able to help." Donna leaned back in the chair she occupied. "God, I'm useless. I can't even do anything that will get the Doctor out of there."

"Donna," warned Auraya. Over the last two months, she had gotten used to Donna's put-downs of herself and she had opted to take the strategy to warn her friend not to do it.

"Sorry," whispered Donna.

"Didn't the Doctor have any records in his ship?" asked another member of the war council; this one a female, who had cropped hair, but was naturally beautiful with a slim figure and bright blue eyes. She leaned forward on the war table.

Donna shrugged. "I dunno..."

"Can you look for us?" suggested the female officer.

"Yeah," said Donna, standing from her chair. "I'll go look now... see what I can find." _If I can figure out how to use the controls_, she thought in her head as she departed the war room.

* * *

"And so we have no choice but to blockade the planet," finished Sansheraz. His arms were folded behind his back, as he turned towards the blonde girl – Jenny – waiting for her response to all that he had told her about the occupation of their home world by the Prestinians.

"It's wrong," she answered, "what they did to you. They should at least share the land! You're fully entitled to it!"

"When we returned ten years ago we didn't expect to find what we had left behind, taken by others. They have refused to grant us landing permission or open negotiations with us, so now we must fight," said the General, sadly. "I just want to get home."

Jenny cocked her head to the side. "Isn't there some galactic senate you can take this too?" she asked.

"No, we cannot. They would side with the Prestinians as apparently we 'forfeit' our right to our world when we left it all those years ago."

"But that's just wrong!" she blurted, her eyes wide in shock and horror. "They're not even interested in working things out?"

"Sadly not. We'd be happy to share the land with them, but they simply do not care." He had not told Jenny about his murder of Auraya's father. Twisting the story so that he got her help was the most important thing. He didn't really have any plans for her… but if she was naïve enough to believe what he was saying, she would believe if he informed her that the Prestinians were liars… Maybe he could infiltrate her into their society… get her to gain their trust? "Say, Jenny." He wrapped his arms over her shoulders. "How would you like to help us bring the Prestinians down?"

* * *

The constant buzzing in his head had only got worse in the following hours since he had detected it. He couldn't shake it off, no matter how hard he tried to. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if doing that would suddenly block it off. It got even more insistent, and the Doctor realised, that despite all the pain he was in, the buzzing inside his head, whoever it was coming from, was just outside his door.

* * *

"What's in there?" asked Jenny as they passed a steel door. Inside her head, something in that room was in pain. She could feel it. Whatever it was, she had a connection to it.

"Oh, nothing. Just a control centre for our energy output," smiled the General serenely. "It's not a place for young ladies."

But Jenny could not help feeling suspicious of his pronouncement. She would have told him she could feel something was in pain inside of there, but she figured it probably wouldn't be her wisest move. _I have to find out what's in there, _she vowed. Whatever was in that control room, the General didn't want her to know about it. Whoever was in there was in constant pain. She had to discover what.

But now was not the time.

She was being sent to Prestine to gain the trust of Minister Auraya and when that was achieved she would work against them from the inside, and help to bring down the planetary shields that prevented the Armorinians from making planet fall.

_I am doing the right thing, aren't I? _

As the General continued to lead her down the hallway, she risked a glance back at the door: she had to wonder why she had a connection to whoever was inside there and why its pain could be felt by her. And she would find out. She promised herself that.

* * *

Donna stood inside the TARDIS, her hands placed delicately on the console. She stared at the screen. She had managed to turn it on, but she didn't know what to type. "Doesn't this thing have internet? And what am I meant to search anyway?"

She typed away, pressing anything that came to mind in the hope of bringing up a search engine. Words began to scroll across the screen and Donna realised that she couldn't even read the language. "Hold on, I'm meant to be able to understand this? Why isn't it translating for me?" She balled her hands in frustration. "Where's Google when you need it?"

Once again she set to work, despair building up as she tried to figure out how to bring up some sort of universal search engine. Obviously Google no longer existed in the far flung future.

* * *

The Doctor had felt the tingling in his head intensify so much that he had realised that whoever it was had been just outside his prison. _It has to be a Time Lord... _

_But they are all dead_, the reasonable part of his brain explained. _I would know if any still lived... _

_But the tingling is there! Something that is Time Lordy is here! _The other side of his brain argued.

He hung in his binds, his body wrecked with horrifying pain. _How? How? _

And then he lifted his head as the door to his prison opened and General Sansheraz strolled in, hands behind his back, a smug grin etched on his face. "Hello, Time Lord."

"What do you want," spat the Doctor, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"We are on course to win the war! Soon, little Auraya will be a husk... and our enemies scattered into atoms. They will never detect our spy... We've made it convincing enough that inserting her onto the planet was easy enough. She also carries with her a small communicator designed to inform us of her progress," laughed Sansheraz.

"Who is she? Your spy? You may as well tell me! I'm not going anywhere after all." The Doctor pulled at his restraints signifying the fact that he simply could not leave.

Sansheraz stroked his chin. "That is correct, after all." He grinned, his eyes twinkling darkly. "A young blonde female who goes by the name of Jenny. She says she has no last name."

The Doctor's mouth fell wide open. Jenny? It _couldn't be. _She was dead. He had seen her die... unless... He closed his eyes as realisation dawned. _I left too soon. _It made sense. He was feeling her presence... and she must be feeling his but she wouldn't know it would imply another of her kind was nearby. His daughter had been pulled into this war on the w_rong side. _

But the Doctor had the advantage. The General hadn't clicked that the Doctor knew who Jenny was, and Donna was still down on Prestine. He had hope once more because if there was one person that he could trust to tell Jenny the truth, it was Donna Noble.

* * *

"I'm glad you could come, Donna, at a moment's notice," grinned Auraya as she greeted her friend. "Did you find anything about that star ship?"

Donna shook her head. "No. I couldn't even get Google to work."

"Google?" Auraya cocked her head to the side in confusion.

Donna waved her hand. "It's a search engine." She had to stop saying things that she wouldn't be able to explain very well. "What's happened?"

"Do you remember that ship that entered the system? The one we wanted to know where it originated from?"

Donna nodded.

"Well, its occupant escaped from the Armorinians fleet. She was pursued by at least one hundred flights of squadrons, all trying to take her down. She stole one of their fighters and headed straight for the planet. We opened our shields to let her in. We weren't going to leave her to be killed, even if it risked letting in some of the enemy. Since she's escaped, she might hold intelligence that we can use against the Armorinians."

"Aren't you worried she might be a spy?" asked Donna.

Auraya nodded. "Yes. That's why we are keeping her in confinement until we can be sure to trust her. You seem good with people, Donna. Perhaps you can judge her character on looks alone."

"I can try, but I doubt it."

"Still," smiled Auraya, "if she is a spy, the Armorinians were doing their best to kill her. We must take some risks if we are going to win this travesty that is a war."

**To be continued...**

**For what it is worth, Jenny was always going to come into this story, even when I first started writing this story back in 2008. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Donna was led to the viewing room, where a see-through glass allowed them to see the young woman. She was turned away from the window so her features were not visible, however if she looked at the window herself, she would see nothing. The girl wore tight black trousers and a jacket. Her blonde hair was tied in a pony-tail down her back. But Donna thought she recognised her. Her whole body stilled... she knew the young woman... every fibre of her being told her so.

"Donna?"

She jumped as Auraya laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." There was concern for her deep in Auraya's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," whispered Donna as she steadied herself. "Have you got a video of her face or something?"

"Is it important you need to see her features before you go in?" asked Ricka, stepping up to join the conversation.

Donna nodded. "Yes. I might know her... I know I can't tell because she's not facing the window..."

"Ricka, order the technicians to bring up a screen-grap of the prisoner's features," said Auraya, her voice filled with authority.

"Already done so," he responded instantly, handing Donna a hand-held device in which the prisoner's face was clearly visible.

"No..." she breathed. "It can't be... She's dead... I saw her die..." Donna stumbled back in shock, her heart rate quickening as her mind tried to process how _Jenny could be alive. _The Doctor's Daughter had been hit by a bullet in the chest, trying to save her father's life. She had died from her wounds. She remembered he had mumbled about regenerating... Martha had pronounced her dead at the scene with no spark of life left within her. "How can you be here?"

"Donna?" Auraya placed a hand upon her friend's shoulder, concern reflected on her pale and sad features. "Who is she?"

"He thought she was dead..." she whispered, numbly. She turned her green eyes towards Auraya. "I need to see her before I can say anything... I need to be sure I'm right and it isn't my head making stuff upon or my eyes going all funny." She raised a hand to stop the young girl from replying. "And please, turn off the audio connection. This has to be between me and her..."

"She hasn't said anything since we brought her in, Minister, but then we haven't exactly been welcoming ourselves, treating her with suspicion," explained Ricka.

"Which we have every right to do," pointed out Auraya. "Donna, go ahead. We'll keep a watch but we won't listen in."

"Thank you," whispered Donna, hurrying away out of the control room and out into the corridor.

Two guards stood against the cell door where the young girl was being kept. They had obviously been informed of Donna's imminent visit to the prisoner, and stepped aside as she approached but not before warning her to be careful. She nodded her head, and walked through the now open door and into the cell.

The woman, sitting on the chair provided, turned to face her, and her mouth fell open in shock, as did Donna's as she took in the familiar features of the young girl that was the Doctor's Daughter.

* * *

"Donna?" Jenny sat stunned by the appearance of her father's friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Never mind me, how are you alive?" snapped Donna. "You died! I saw it!"

Jenny shook her shoulders. "Yeah, but something brought me back after you'd left."

Donna walked slowly forward and pulled out the other chair that was stood on the other side of the table from Jenny. She plonked herself down and leaned forward, her mind full of questions. "How did you get here? Get away from Messaline?"

"I escaped in the star-ship there. I stole it. I wanted to run: run across the universe!" grinned Jenny. "I've seen so many wonderful things! Oh Donna, you really wouldn't believe it!"

Donna smiled gently. "I'm sure I could." She leaned forward. "Jenny, you have to tell me, are you helping General Sansheraz? Are you a spy?"

Jenny fidgeted, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh Jenny..." Donna didn't need telling that the girl had been sent as a spy and that her escape from the fleet had been a set-up to convince them to lower their shields.

"What are you doing here, helping them?" demanded Jenny, her eyes narrowing as she pointed towards the window she couldn't see through. "I know they are watching my every move and recording what I say too!"

"They're not recording," said Donna gently. "I asked them to talk to you alone."

"And you trust them?" snapped Jenny, glaring at her father's friend.

"Just like you have believed what General Sansheraz has told you?" replied Donna, her own eyes now narrowing. Was this really the same girl that had been created from the Doctor's combined DNA?

"Because he's right!" shouted Jenny, standing up.

Donna blinked and got to her feet, her eyes never leaving Jenny's face. "Tell me. Did General Sansheraz show you what he was doing to the Doctor?"

Jenny's face paled as Donna's words sunk in. "What?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

Donna smiled sadly. "I thought so. He wouldn't reveal his greatest secret would he? The General has exploited you, Jenny. Made you think he is the right and Auraya is in the wrong." She leaned forward. "Jenny, give me a chance to explain and hear both sides of the story before you make up your mind on who is right and who is wrong."

Jenny swallowed, shaking a little. "What has he done to dad?" Her eyes met Donna's and she knew deep down that her father was in serious trouble. "He's what I was feeling, wasn't he?"

"What do you mean?" asked Donna, tilting her head forward, enticing Jenny to continue speaking.

"On the ship..." began Jenny, "I mean, back when I arrived in the system I felt something, a tug of pain... I didn't understand why I could feel that... It became stronger as I neared the ship... even now I feel a sense of something out there in pain. It's like a buzzing inside my head. General Sansheraz took me past this door and the feelings of pain and sorrow were so much that I wanted to go in there and find out what it was. He didn't want me to know what was in there. I'm feeling dad's pain, aren't I?" Jenny locked gazes with Donna, her eyes wide and beseeching, begging her to tell her that what she was feeling wasn't the pain of her father.

"I'm sorry," said Donna, gently. "He's up there, on the command ship. They're using him, Jenny. Slowly they are killing him. It's been two months since he was taken... I don't know what to do, but you can help us..." She played her final card. "He was helping the Prestinians. As am I, in whatever little I can do for them. But you can help us to, if you are willing to believe that what the Armorinian General told you was lies."

Jenny was silent, her head bowed as she considered her options. Had she really been feeling her father's pain? Was that why she had a connection to the pain? The General had made a case for her... had convinced her that what he said was right and that the Prestinians were in the wrong... She honestly believed that. He had been so caring and kind, charismatic even. And yet, according to Donna, her father, a man she admired, who had shown her a different way of living, was a prisoner and being hurt endlessly for whatever purpose the General had in mind for him.

But how could she believe in the Prestinians, that they really had evolved on this world during the Armorinian absence? Wasn't that impossible in the time the Armorinians had travelled the universe? Did she really want to change sides, only to find that she had been on the right side to start with? _But Donna is helping them... as was dad... _ She had to know for sure that this wasn't some trick that the Prestinian's had cooked up to get her help. She had to be sure that her father _really _was a prisoner. She didn't dare believe she had been fooled until she had absolute proof.

"I need to know that it really is dad up there..." she whispered, keeping her head low.

"Jenny..."

"PLEASE! I need to know!" Tears were leaking out of Jenny's eyes. "I need to know that I've made a mistake! And that really is dad up there! I don't know for sure, but if you have anything to prove to me that he really isn't here, then I'll help you. But I need... I need..." she sniffed, trying to calm her breathing.

"Okay," said Donna, holding up her hands. "Wait here."

Jenny wiped her eyes and watched as Donna left the cell. She didn't know how long it was, but it felt like an hour had passed before her father's companion returned, motioning with her hands for Jenny to leave the cell and follow her. As soon as she left the room she had been confined in, Jenny was aware of two guards marching at her side. They didn't trust her and she could very well understand that.

Donna led her to the control room where Jenny was given a chair to sit upon next to Donna.

"Put these on," instructed Donna, and handed the young girl earphones.

Jenny did so, finding they fit snugly over her ears.

"This isn't going to be very nice, Jenny. I'm sorry," whispered Donna, as she fiddled with a few buttons on the keyboard before sitting back in her chair.

Jenny waited and then two voices she recognised came over the earphones. One was General Sansheraz; the other belonged to her father, the Doctor.

"_So you thought you could infiltrate the command ship of Supreme Commander Arkia?" _

"_You should have thought of that when you shot me and captured me! I knew you were after me. Couldn't resist an energy source that is a Time Lord! Did you really think I wouldn't come prepared? It took you a month to figure out that everything you said, everything you did to me was being transmitted back to your enemies!" _

"_And what happens now will be too," came the smooth, but cruel voice of General Sansheraz. _

"_What?" _

"_This: your tracking and audio device. It's still on and still transmitting. They are hearing every second of this conversation... And they will also hear your screams now." _

"_NO!" _

Jenny listened to the accompanied audio recording, her stomach lurching at what she heard the General do to her father and the screams that were pulled from his throat. She had not seen that side of the General... Her head swam as she felt dizzy, wondering why she had ever believed what the General had told her. _Because he knows how to influence the young... _And she had fallen for it and pledged herself into his service.

She took the earphones off as the recording came to an end. She turned to Donna, who was looking at her with sad eyes. Jenny knew what she had to say. "I want to help you."

"Are you going to answer my friend's question then?" asked a woman, who Jenny recognised as Auraya, the current Minister of Prestine, from the holos Sansheraz had shown her. "Are you a spy for the Armorinians?"

Jenny bowed her head. "Yes. But I didn't know. I believed what he said. But I can help you, if you'll let me."

Auraya glanced at Donna. "A word, if you may?"

"Sure..." said Donna. "I'll be right back, Jenny."

Jenny watched as the Minister led her friend away, wondering if the young woman would give her a chance. She would have to trust in Donna to fight for her.

* * *

"Auraya, what is this all about?" asked Donna. "I told you that Jenny could be trusted. And she wants to help us."

Auraya sighed, her stiff posture relaxing as she settled herself onto a chair within the room she had led her friend to. "I'm not so sure. You never told us why you needed her to listen to the recording. I only authorised it because you seem so sure you can trust her, but you have to tell me who she really is to you. You said friend, but I believe there is something more than that. Who is she, Donna Noble?"

"Jenny is the Doctor's daughter. She didn't know he was up there. Sansheraz lied to her. She didn't know whether I was telling the truth, so I had to provide proof. Now she knows, she will work with us," urged Donna. "Don't punish her for her naivety in siding with Sansheraz. She didn't know... but you can use her against them. You said earlier that she had a communicator on her that was linked to the fleet. Take advantage of that. Make them think she has successfully won you over. Jenny won't help them now, not now she knows the truth about the Doctor."

Auraya rubbed her tired eyes. "How can I be so sure that you're telling me the truth?"

"I wouldn't lie to you. Jenny is his daughter, but we thought she had died... She can help us, I know it," preached Donna, hoping to obtain Auraya's faith in her.

"As a leader it is my duty to protect my people." Auraya bit her lip. "If she helps us, what do you have in mind?"

Donna frowned. She hadn't had much of a chance to think out how Jenny could be useful, other than making the General think she was still on his side. But then a thought struck her. "Why would they insert her here? To gain your trust? There would have to be another motive to it..."

"The shields..." whispered Auraya as realisation dawned. "They wanted her to take down our shields so they could bombard us. Destroy us, utterly. But we can use that to our advantage..."

"So, you're gonna trust her then?" pointed out Donna, a small smile on her face.

Auraya met her gaze, her eyes boring into hers. "No, but I'm going to put faith in you. You say she will help us: if she betrays us, it will be on your head."

Donna nodded, understanding that her life would quite possibly be forfeit if Jenny betrayed them. Auraya had hardened a lot since her father's murder. She had changed enough that hurting others in punishment to other's actions was not beneath her. "Okay. I guess you have a plan?"

Auraya smiled a thin one, informing Donna through her expression alone that an idea was already forming in her mind.

* * *

Jenny had been placed back in her cell when Donna arrived back in the control room. Glancing back at Auraya, the Minister inclined her head, signalling her friend to go and talk to the blonde girl.

Slipping into the cell, Donna sat down once more in the second chair, watching Jenny as the young girl paced up and down.

"You're anxious, aren't you?" said Donna, gently.

Jenny cocked her head to the side. "How can you tell?"

Donna shrugged, rubbing her hands together. "You feel you made a mistake in agreeing to help the General without knowing the full facts."

Jenny nodded. "I feel stupid because dad is up there and I didn't know. If I'd known, I wouldn't have agreed to help them. How could I have been so dumb?" Jenny kicked out, hitting her right foot on the other chair, sending it crashing to the floor. She slumped to the ground herself, leaning back against the stone wall. "I could have rescued him if I'd known."

"You wouldn't have done," replied Donna. "Sansheraz would have noticed the connection between you two. Better you're down here and finding out this way, then being discovered up there and being used in the same way he is. At least now we have a chance to end this."

"So I can help?" Jenny perked up, a grin sliding across her sullen features.

"Yeah," smiled Donna, "I think so."

Jenny climbed to her feet, lifting up the chair she had kicked over in frustration and plonked herself down upon it, facing her father's companion. "You have a plan, right?"

"Well..." Donna trailed off. "It's complicated to explain since it'll take a few weeks to implement before we can do anything about getting the Doctor back."

"Oh." Jenny's face fell. "We have to wait?"

"I'm sorry... but you're a spy for them. You would have to have a few days to prove yourself of wanting to help us, to convince the General that you are in _with _us. Auraya's guessed that you have been tasked to lower the shields?"

"How'd she guess that?" Jenny was astounded, her mouth wide and her eyes shining in shock.

Donna laughed gently. "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny... it was obvious. The planetary shields are the only thing that stands in the way of the Armorinians making planet fall. Auraya can organise a certain portion of them to fall, allowing the ships above to enter the atmosphere. At best count, their defences can handle twenty ships before they'd have to close them. But it would give you enough time to escape from the planet. You would be able to use the excuse you didn't know that only a small amount of shields would fall when you 'sabotage' them. Auraya would ensure that she can bring them up again after you've got out and twenty star ships have slipped through." Donna held up her hand to prevent Jenny from interrupting. "Your escape ship would be an armoured transport, big enough to hide away a team of warriors and myself. You'd lead us to the General's ship. The main goal of the mission would be to get the Doctor out, but also to take out, much as I hate it - I can't change Auraya's decision -, the Supreme Commander and General Sansheraz. We know they are using the Doctor to power their ship, which is why we will be taking some of the Prestinian's technology along to see if we can convert what they have at present so they wouldn't need to rely on living energy."

Jenny frowned. "Hold on, if we take father out of whatever they have him in, wouldn't we be taking power away from all the ship? Wouldn't it fail without installing it first and making sure it works?"

Donna gritted her teeth. "We haven't worked out all the details yet... but that's the plan that Auraya and myself have just worked out."

"And it'll work?" Jenny sounded unsure.

Donna couldn't answer, because they simply wouldn't know if it would until they tried it. She just had to hope that this nightmare would soon be over for them all.

* * *

"And so our plan unfolds..."

The Doctor groaned as General Sansheraz waltzed into the control room. "What do you want?" he snapped. "I'm kind of in the middle of screaming my throat out here."

Sansheraz bared his cruel, sharp teeth. "You can carry on doing that... I don't mind listening to your screams."

"Only when you leave me alone!" replied the Doctor. He would have struggled but the connections placed within his body would only give him more pain and he didn't want to give the General the satisfaction of hearing him scream, _again_. If he stayed still, he at least could keep the pain at a bare minimum. "I'll ask you again: what do you want? You came here to gloat about something! You may as well tell me!"

"Our spy has successfully made contact with the Minister... Gaining their trust by giving them a few pieces of information they will never get to use against us..." laughed Sansheraz.

"Hmm, you think?" grated the Doctor. He was practically certain that the 'Jenny' the General had informed him about was his daughter, the one that had died in his arms not that long ago. The tingling in his mind when she had been very near to him only strengthened that view point. He still had that nagging feeling at the back of his head that meant whoever she was, was close to him, but far enough away that it wasn't a loud pulse inside his mind. It had to be Jenny, there was no other explanation for it, and hopefully, with any luck Jenny would be helping Donna to work out a way to free him and stop this war on the Prestinians claiming any more innocent lives.

"What do you know?" asked Sansheraz, his voice full of suspicion. He lowered his eyelids so that his eyes were mere slits. "You give me the impression that you know something that I do not..."

The Doctor barked harshly. "HA! As if! Even if I did, would I even tell the person who is torturing me twenty-four seven?"

The General laughed, his voice cackling. "You know full well that we have ways of making you talk..."

The Doctor swallowed, suddenly realising that if he didn't come up with a good excuse as to why he wasn't horrified by their spy's attempts to win Auraya and Donna around, Sansheraz would force that information from him in the most painful way he could contrive. "I believe in Donna. She would know a spy when she saw one. My friend would know not to trust so easily."

"You think?" Sansheraz laughed. "Oh, you will be pleasantly surprised then when their planetary shields drop and we begin our bombardment upon the people who stole our planet from us..."

"THEY DIDN'T STEAL IT!" yelled the Doctor in frustration. "They evolved there! You travelled the stars for so long you should know that! The technology and the cities you left behind only _accelerated _that!"

"We know."

The Doctor was shocked. "What?" _No... no... please don't say they've finally realised...and they are still continuing with the bombardment now they understand the truth... _

Sansheraz's teeth glinted. "Our scientists have since confirmed what you say to us as very plausible, however, we consider it best to keep this information within High Command, away from the Supreme Commander herself, as I know she would advocate for peace between our two races. It would not do to have a rebellion on our hands when we are so close to victory..."

The Doctor glared at him with hatred, his brown eyes sharing the anger he felt burning within his chest. He shook his head in denial. "I can't believe this. You know what I've told you is the truth! If you can avoid the bloodshed, why not?"

"We have come too far in this battle to give up now. It is better to end the Prestinian lives, than attempt to live alongside them," explained the General. He reached up, gently stroking the Doctor's face. "It is for the best for both our races if my people continued to believe the old truth." Turning towards the controls, he gently lowered a lever.

"What are you doing?" whimpered the Doctor as he started to feel burning on his back, through the connections that had been fed into his body.

"Getting more power from you," replied Sansheraz. "We need our ships at full capacity and the only way to do that is to drain you entirely. I am afraid, this will hurt." A cruel smile curled up on his lips.

The Doctor's eyes watched as the General reached out to a dial and twisted it violently to the right. He couldn't stop the scream being ripped from his throat as immense pain flooded his body. Drugs poured into him to prevent him from falling unconscious. He thrashed in his bonds, knowing that he was only causing himself more harm, but he simply could not help it.

He tried to hold back another cry, yet more agony washed through him and he found he simply could not hold it back.

While he screamed, the General watched with a smug smile slowly sliding across his face.

**To be continued... **

**Next update will be Saturday. If I remember, that is :x **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N) So it is clear I have a very bad memory. Oops. It's difficult to remember to update a story once you've exited the fandom - by and large - my Doctor Who fic writing is now finished. So, because I have been forgetting, I am updating four chapters. **

**

* * *

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**Chapter Eight**

A week after Jenny's arrival on Prestine the other details of the plan had been worked out. The Prestinian Scientists had found a solution to keep the ships in orbit running long enough without the need for a living soul to be connected to the machinery. However that had meant Jenny had to give up some of her life energy to ensure that their plan worked. For two days during that week they had drained her life force, storing it in a container that they hoped would connect to the ships and keep them in orbit long enough for Auraya to issue an ultimatum to the rest of the people. She had agreed to forgive the rest of the Armorinians on the condition that the Supreme Commander and General Sansheraz were taken out. If they failed in that goal then she would not.

Donna hated to think that her friend was willing to commit genocide, but she figured that the Doctor should be able to change her mind, providing he was in the right frame of mind to argue with her. She didn't know what over two months of constant drainage would do to him.

Within a few hours they would be on their way to save the Doctor: they were just waiting for Jenny to report for duty, and then it would begin.

* * *

"He should not have been unconscious for this long," mused the Supreme Commander. "You took too much in one go and now our people are suffering for your unauthorised actions."

General Sansheraz flinched. "Supreme Commander, the end of the war is nigh. We cannot afford to be weak. We have enough power to power all military ships at full capacity. A few civilian lives are worth the sacrifice, is it not?"

Arkia's eyes narrowed. "The sacrifice was unnecessary. We have lost two full ships of future generations! And a third is on its way!" Her eyes blazed angrily. "What's worse is that you could have killed him! You are very lucky that he did not die!"

"I did what I thought best considering our circumstances. If I am to be executed for my crime then I will gladly lay down my life," bowed Sansheraz.

"We cannot afford to lose you. If we win this war, all crimes and disobedient actions will be forgiven; if we lose then you will pay," replied Arkia. She turned back to look at the Time Lord hanging in the machinery. He was pale and weak and his hair was plastered all over his forehead. He was shaking – only slightly – as if he had a fever. "Have our medics check him out. Make sure he will survive what you did to him."

And with that, the Supreme Commander departed from the control room, leaving her General to stare at the shuddering and shaking form of the Doctor.

* * *

Jenny sat down in the pilot seat of the transport that she was 'stealing'. She flicked the controls and waited as the engines fired up; hidden in a compartment, shielded from any scans that the Armorinians might attempt on the transport, were a team of soldiers, all armed and ready for battle. Donna was in the compartment too, but at the most they would only be hidden away for a few hours.

A light on her dashboard flashed blue and she knew it was time. Taking hold of the controls, Jenny lifted the star ship off of the landing pad, sending a pre-recorded message to General Sansheraz, hoping that he would not detect any deception.

* * *

"The shield is down!"

General Sansheraz strolled onto the bridge issuing demands and yelling orders to his recruits. "Get the ships in the front row moving! We have a hole into their shields! Order the Captains to begin planetary bombardment as soon as they are in range!" He was pleased. His plan had worked! The only problem was that the spy had not been able to completely sabotage the entire planetary network as she had been discovered before she could finish the job. That meant that Auraya had the opportunity to fix the problem, but if they could get some ships in, that would be beneficial for them. He knew Jenny had managed to escape her captors by sheer luck and was making her way back. If they could take the planet with this one assault, she would be honoured highly for her actions.

He smiled grimly, knowing he had tricked her into believing their story. Such a gullible girl she had been. Still, at least she didn't know the truth and could not turn traitor on them. Out of all of those in High Command, the only one who did not know the truth was the Supreme Commander herself. He had felt it prudent to not tell her the truth... He knew her well enough that if she had known she would have gone the peace route and agreed to either settle alongside the Prestinians or find another world to colonise on. He could not allow that to happen. He would not! They had fought too long for the planet to simply let the Prestinians win by a mere technicality that was evolution.

* * *

The buzzing was beginning in his head again.

The Doctor's eyes flickered open. His vision was blurry; he could barely see. He felt weak and so tired... His hearts were beating erratically in his chest.

But the buzzing was getting more and more insistent and he knew that was what had awoken him. The presence of another Time Lord was making itself known to him...

_Jenny... _

And he knew she was coming back. Something had happened, but what?

_And is Donna with her? _He wondered before the darkness enveloped him once more.

* * *

Donna lay curled up in the darkness of the small and cramped compartment, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Her hair was tied in a pony tail and she wore green trousers and shirt, with armour attached to specific parts of her body. It was mightily uncomfortable, but if it protected her from being killed, it was worth it. Closing her eyes, she thought desperately of the Doctor.

_Just hold on a little longer. We're coming for you. _

* * *

"Are you ready back there?" asked Jenny, speaking into the small communicator that was attached to the top of her shirt.

"All set and ready for action," reported the leader of the soldiers. "Just bleep us when we can move."

"I'm half-way through the fleet. We have escorts so our 'pursuers' have broken off. Two Armorinian battle ships have already entered the shield and another five are closing in," reported Jenny. She figured they would want a status update. They all had families down on Prestine; any of them could be killed in the forthcoming battle, but precautions had been made so that there would be minimal loss of civilian lives.

"How long till we dock?" asked Donna, her voice muffled by the fact she wasn't close to the communicator in the compartment.

Jenny frowned, looking at her control board and estimating. "About another ten minutes... The General's ship is launching battle fighters... We might have to wait longer."

"I hope they haven't figured you out for what you really are," growled the Commander of the troop.

"Neither do I," whispered Jenny under her breath. _Come on. Don't let them figure me out. I've got to save dad, I have to. _

* * *

The sound of the bleep was all the confirmation they need to move. The top of the compartment burst open with a loud clatter and the soldiers piled out, grabbing their weapons and quickly stretching their legs as they lined up behind their commander. Auraya had sent Ricka to commandeer this mission. He was the only one she trusted enough with a mission of this magnitude. If they found Supreme Commander Arkia and General Sansheraz, Ricka would be the one to execute them if he was able to, otherwise that task would be delegated to his second-in-command, Forrest.

Donna had refused to hold any weapons, so she had a protector to stand by her side in the midst of any battle. Still, she did have armour on that would help her. The soldiers each placed a helmet on their heads, protecting their hands: Donna did the same, finding that with her tied back, that it was even more uncomfortable then the armour was. It also hurt, as the bottom half of the helmet dug into the back of her neck. She winced but did not make a sound to alert the rest of the infiltration team to her discomfort.

"Okay, everyone," began Ricka, "Jenny has left the bay with General Sansheraz. She will attempt to keep him distracted as much as we can. Our main goal is to free the Doctor and to replace him with these hand-held devices. Once we have done that, five of us will escort both the Doctor and Miss Noble to an escape ship and leave the fleet if possible and get back to ground. The rest of us will go Commander and General hunting in the hope of ending this once and for all. Jenny is on her own. Whether she escapes is up to her, not us, however do avoid hitting her if she is caught in any of the cross-fire that may occur between now and then. Is that clear?"

Nods and 'yes, sir!' went up around the group of fifteen soldiers. They all knew their duty. They had all signed onto the mission knowing and understanding the risks, but they were trained for this and had been ready for an opportunity to present itself for a long time. They could end this war within hours, providing everything went to plan.

* * *

"I am sorry to hear that you were discovered so soon into your sabotage of the shields," said General Sansheraz as they walked down the corridor towards the bridge. "It is a shame that you couldn't inflict more permanent damage upon them, however you'll be pleased to know that we have now got battle-ships within the shield and they are already bombarding the planet. We have, of course, targeted the shield bunkers in the hope of finishing off the work you started."

Jenny nodded, putting on a false smile. She had to pretend she was still with them, no matter how much she hated it. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Good," muttered the General softly. "Come. You deserve to witness the end of the war from the bridge. I can already smell victory. Soon, my people will be back on our rightful planet and the Prestinians will be nothing more than ashes scattered in the air and earth."

Jenny felt her insides tremble with sickness. They were over-confident that she had not wavered from their cause. Perhaps that would be their downfall? She could only hope that it would be. _Come on..._

* * *

The Doctor's head was buzzing. It almost seemed to drown out the pain he was in. Jenny was close, he was certain of that. _She's here... on this ship. _He shuddered as a sudden spark of pain made its way up his back. Something big was going on. He just knew it.

Maybe he could reach out to her? She was a Time Lord, maybe the same rules applied? Could he talk to her with this mind? He could have tried this before but it hadn't come to him. He knew it would cost him a lot of control if he attempted it – knew he could risk putting himself into a coma... He had already lost too much energy and even a simple mind-link could take enough and force him to sink under.

"I have to take the risk," he whispered aloud.

* * *

The infiltration team had made it into the air vents. It was slow work making their way carefully through them, but at least they remained undetected so far. Donna crawled onward. Jenny had given them a rough map of the ship and where the Doctor was located. They had to go up three levels to reach him; they were just waiting for the right moment to get into a lift and take it up to that level. No doubt any such actions would mean they were discovered in the process.

"Okay everyone," said Ricka quietly, "we have reached decision time. I see a lift below us, however they are guarded. Do we continue onward or reveal ourselves now?"

"If those lifts are guarded wouldn't the rest be as well?" asked Donna, apprehensively.

"Possibly," answered another soldier. "How far is the Doctor from here if we took those lifts?"

"Not far," came the answer, "however if we moved on, we'd be further away from him. Once we are discovered, getting to him will become difficult."

There seemed to be a general murmur of agreement that the best course of action was to take those lifts.

"Alright then, people, prepare yourselves," said Ricka, as he reached around to grasp one of the guns he had on his belt in the tight space. "Miss Noble, stay up here until we call you down."

Normally Donna would argue but she understood the risk she posed to the soldiers if she got in the way. Her priority was to stay alive long enough to rescue the Doctor. She nodded. Though the vents were small, the soldiers managed to squash up alongside the wall, so that she could pass them. Positioning herself away from the exit that Ricka sat in front of, Donna waited with baited breath. _This is it,_ she thought.

* * *

_Jenny? _

Jenny shuddered. Someone had just spoken to her, _in her head._ She had never felt that before. She saw General Sansheraz glance at her suspiciously, so she quickly composed herself. He gave her a brief nod.

_Jenny?_

There it was again. Swallowing, and not reacting to the voice, Jenny hesitantly whispered back: _Dad? _

_Jenny! You remembered! _

She grinned, despite the situation she was in. _'Course I would. I've been running through the universe, saving planets, rescuing civilisations, all in your name! _

_Really? _She detected how proud he was of her for doing that.

_Yes, really. _

_Are you okay? _She asked hesitantly.

_I could be better... This communication with you is taking a lot out of me... I need to know. What's going on? _

Jenny quickly told him exactly what was going on, explaining that Donna and a team of soldiers were making their way towards him in the hope of getting him out. They had already constructed a way to keep the ships in orbit after freeing him. When she explained that she had willingly given up some of her own energy to do this, he did not seem pleased.

_You shouldn't have done that. _

_I know,_ replied Jenny, _but it was the only solution we could think of. There is something else you should know. Once they've got you out, some of the team are going after the General and the Supreme Commander, to kill them. _

_WHAT?_ It sounded like a shout in her head and she had to force herself to not wince in case she aroused suspicion.

_You're going to try to stop them, aren't you? _

He didn't answer, but that was all Jenny needed to know that was what he intended on doing anyway.

_I need to go, _he whispered, _be careful, Jenny. I don't want to lose you again. You'll have to tell me how you survived that gun-shot wound after this is all over._

_I will,_ she promised.

And then the link went silent.

* * *

He felt oddly relaxed having spoken to Jenny. Something was being done to get him out of here. He wouldn't have to fight much longer. He just had to hold on: even now he could feel his body beginning to fail him, but he was determined to survive. The massive energy drain that the General had put him through was beginning take its toll.

* * *

_They were lucky, extremely lucky,_ Donna mused. The lifts had only been guarded by four soldiers, all of whom had not been expecting the soldier's sudden appearance from the vents. So surprised were they that all four were unconscious before they had any chance to react to the surprising turn of events. Donna slid out of the air vent, landing on her feet, looking around at the team of soldiers. The lift doors opened and they trooped inside, the doors closing behind them. Donna punched in the correct floor number, her heart beating deep within her chest. They were getting closer to the Doctor and to the end of the war.

* * *

Glancing down at her sensor board, Auraya flicked a few switches, shifting the headphones slightly on her head. "Putting shields back up!" She watched as the shields that had been opened deliberately closed upon the enemy, trapping the twenty shops that had made it inside their shields. "Power up the defence batteries! Fire on my count of ten!"

There was a bustle of activity as the weapon engineers got to work, quickly pressing buttons, pulling down levers to ensure that everything was ready.

Auraya took a deep breath. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!" She twisted a red dial. "Six! Five! Four! Three! Two!" She grasped a lever with her right hand, her face set with determination. "One! GO!"

Hands went into action and high above the planet, the shields closed.

* * *

"That should not have happened," said the General softly. "The shields closed." He turned towards Jenny. "You did disable them enough so that they wouldn't be able to repair what damage was done?"

Jenny shrugged, trying to ignore the rising fear in her chest. _He suspects. _"I don't know," she said honestly. "I am unfamiliar with the technology. I thought I had done enough damage – obviously I was wrong. If I hadn't been discovered so quickly I would have continued the work and made sure that they could not repair it. It is possible that the damage I did wasn't permanent for that small section of shield."

"Hmm," frowned the General. "I hope, for your sake, that you are not lying to me. Death awaits anyone who betrays us."

"I haven't betrayed you, sir," said Jenny. "I fully support your cause." She sounded just like a trained soldier, but then again she was a trained soldier. It was in her programming.

* * *

The Doctor hung in the machine, his eyes closed, his forehead wet with sweat. He really was on his way out. _Just hang on, hang on a little bit more... _

* * *

Their luck had not lasted, however the soldiers that they had encountered had so far made no contact with the rest of the ship. So far, General Sansheraz did not know that an infiltration team was onboard. So preoccupied with bombarding Prestine, he had ordered all crew members to the bridge. Only a few soldiers remained scattered throughout the ship, protecting the lifts and patrolling the corridors, stopping any stragglers from hiding away from the battle.

Donna took in a deep breath, cowering in the corner of the hall, hiding behind a metal barrel. Screams rent the air and she risked a glance, seeing as one of the Prestinian soldiers went down, his hand clutching a wound in his hip, one of the few weak spots in their armour. Blood was already pouring steadily onto the ground. She sank back down, her stomach feeling ill at the sight of so much blood.

What felt like minutes – but was really seconds – passed and then everything went silent. Donna scrambled to her feet, seeing Ricka standing in the centre, his hands clutching two guns. "Can we go onward?" she asked.

Ricka gave her a stiff nod. "The door is just up here. You go on ahead, we'll clean up here. The corridor has been secured both ends."

Donna nodded and took off at a run.

* * *

"Sir," a small blonde technician asked, "we have a problem."

General Sansheraz turned his intense eyes upon the newest recruit. "What?"

"There has been a breach in security, near the control room, sir. The soldier's assigned to that section are not answering, nor are any in the section before that. The cameras are down as well," she explained, her voice shaking a tiny bit.

Sansheraz turned immediately to Jenny. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Surprised by his reaction, Jenny stumbled back, fear flickering over her face. "Nothing! I did nothing!"

Sansheraz eyed her, his hands clenching at his sides. "I think you are lying. You bought someone else aboard this ship when you arrived back. Tell me! Who did you bring!"

"No one!"

"SIR!" the same one again.

"WHAT?" barked the General.

Taking the advantage of his momentary distraction, Jenny ran for the doors, ignoring his yells to come back. They had been discovered and now she was on her own. She ducked as shots fired over her head and then she was through the door, past the guards and running as fast as possible up the corridor. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the door guards pursuing her, but she had a head-start.

She could still survive this.

* * *

Donna stepped into the control room, her eyes roving the room. "Doctor?" she whispered. Her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes focused upon the figure strapped to the machine. He was pale and unconscious; he looked as if he was running a fever. His breathing was shallow.

She ran towards him, forgetting to check for even the simplest of security measures. "DOCTOR!"

His eyes flickered open and he groaned. "Donna?"

"I'm here," she said, reaching him. "We're here to get you out of here."

"I know," he whispered, his voice shaking. He looked terrible and she could clearly see the connections that the Armorinians had put in him. They would have to be removed, but not now. They didn't have the time. Just by seeing him, Donna understood that he was dying. "But they know you are here."

"What do you mean?"

He nodded to his left.

Donna looked in the direction he indicated. A security camera was pointed straight at them. "Ah." She had forgotten to check for the camera she had been told was there. She had just single-handedly managed to ruin the entire mission. _"Bugger."_

**To be continued... **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Alarms blared around them, and Donna cursed. How could she have been so stupid? Jenny had told her there was bound to be a camera in the room, but no, her main concern had been the Doctor and not doing her job properly.

Footsteps behind her and she turned to glare at Ricka as he barged into the control room, his team of soldiers following behind. "What did you do?" he yelled.

"I forgot to look for the camera," replied Donna, sarcastically. "I'm sure it won't be long till they get here to stop us, so I suggest we get him out of that device NOW!"

Ricka nodded curtly. "Hurry, this is going to be difficult."

Three soldiers ran to her side and Donna looked back at the Doctor. "Is there an easy way to get you out of this thing?" She didn't like the pale colour of his face or the blood that seemed to be covering the various connections that had been drilled into his body.

"It will hurt a lot, that's all I know," he panted, his eyes flickering closed. "Just do it: I can stand it." _I hope. _

Donna stepped back, placing the back pack on the floor and started to pull out the energy containers that they hoped would be able to fit the connections that the Doctor was a part of. As they had no idea what the contraption the Doctor was connected to had looked like, the design of the containers had been a guess on their part. She flinched as she heard a grunt of pain: if she looked up she knew what she would find and she did not want to see.

Once she was finished with the containers, she turned away, trying to block out the sounds of the Doctor's cry of pains.

* * *

Jenny didn't even know where she was going; she was just aware that she had to escape. Glancing over her shoulder, she took a risk and decided to head where Donna and the Doctor should be.

* * *

"What are they doing?" mused General Sansheraz, watching the screen. The camera installed in the control room was showing him something that he had not imagined would be possible. He was intrigued. He watched with fascination as the enemy infiltrators placed containers into the machine the Time Lord had once been a part of, and connect them to the wires.

"I think, sir, they are helping to keep the ships in orbit," replied the security worker. "They're not trying to kill us, though they have every right to, considering what we are doing to the world they profess as theirs."

Sansheraz stroked his chin. "What they are doing won't work. We don't need electricity or fusion; we need life-force energy to survive. We need to retrieve our energy source and reconnect him up as quickly as possible otherwise our race may be doomed. That particular energy source has enough energy to power the entire fleet and has been doing so for a few months now." He turned away from the monitoring station. "Keep watch; I will take a team down to the control room. Let me know if they move from the room before I get there."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Doctor?" asked Donna quietly. "Are you okay?"

He grimaced, his face still deathly white. "For now." He shifted, holding back a cry of pain as agony swept up his body. They had bandaged him to the best of their ability, to stop the blood flow, but they had discovered that he was unable to move on his own and they didn't have a stretcher to put him on. The question they had to answer now was how they were going to get him off the ship. For now, they had barricaded themselves inside the control room while they considered all of their options.

"If we are to escape before we are caught, we are going to have to leave him behind," said Ricka, regret in his voice.

Donna glared at him. "And I already told you that is _not _an option! I am not leaving him here!"

"Then what do you suggest, Miss Noble? They won't give us the chance to talk. Because of your failure to look for a camera, they'll know we are here and this wasn't the main part of our mission! We can end this war today if we can kill the Supreme Commander and the General!"

"You...aren't going to kill anyone," panted the Doctor.

"You are not fit to give us orders," snapped Ricka.

"And killing the Supreme Commander is not an option!" retorted the Doctor, struggling to breathe, but knowing he had to get his point across. "She doesn't know!"

"Doesn't know what?" swallowed Donna, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

The Doctor sighed. "General Sansheraz told me he knows that what I told him about your people evolving on Prestine is true! Most of the high command structure knows but the Supreme Commander does not! She may even be willing to negotiate properly with you and end this war today without the need of spreading anymore bloodshed!"

Ricka seemed to falter, hesitation clear on his face. "Are you sure about that information?"

"I am. It's the General who wants to wipe you out, but the Supreme Commander may be willing to fight for peace rather than war. If you can talk to her, then maybe there is a chance you can still make peace." He could feel his energy draining out; his eyelids dropping.

"Doctor?" Donna's concerned voice.

"I just need to rest..." He could feel his hearts beating erratically in his chest.

"He's going under! We need a breathing mask on him!"

Blackness descended.

* * *

Jenny had been lucky. She had managed to dislodge her pursuers. Thankfully most of the soldiers were busy fighting the battle below, so the ship wasn't as manned as heavily as it should be. She was running towards the control room when someone stepped out in front of her. She skidded to a halt, fumbling for the gun that was holstered in her belt.

"Don't touch it."

She hesitated, but it cost her. Guards surrounded her, grabbing her by the arms. She glared hatefully at the Supreme Commander, but to her utter surprise, the Commander began to smile sadly at her.

"I have been a fool but I need your help, if you are willing to give it."

Jenny could only stare confused at her. "I don't know what you mean..."

"I know the truth, and I have been deceived. I overheard it all. And have come to save my people, if you'll let me."

And then Jenny realised what the Supreme Commander meant.

* * *

Supreme Commander Arkia had been suspicious of General Sansheraz and his motives for continuing the onslaught against Auraya's people for a while now. She had not liked how he had gone behind her back to set up the peace meeting and then gone onto murder Minister Ager Laris which had then resulted in them acquiring their latest victim to be used in their machines. She had never liked the idea of using a being of high intelligence in their energy stealing device, but for the Doctor, she had made an exception simply because their enemies could not have had such a powerful being on their side, however since her original encounter with him in his cell, shortly before she had ordered him to be connected to it, she had become intrigued by him; intrigued by his resistance.

He had always resisted them, trying to stop them from draining his energy but he had always fought, not letting defeat stopping him for continuing to fight back. A part of her had started to regret going along with her General's plan, and so, without his knowledge she had started to go and speak to the Doctor during his more lucid moments when the power being drained from him was minimal.

General Sansheraz had always been against peace. He had been born a warrior and he wanted to die as one; however Arkia had been born a leader, one that made the best decisions for her people. She had begun to wonder if perhaps the Prestinians really had evolved on the planet after her people had left it all those eons ago as the Doctor claimed, so, she had opened an enquiry with her team of scientists to investigate that possibility. They had never thought to do that before.

She had never learnt the results, until now. She had kept an interest in the Doctor, had continued to visit him, to talk to him, to learn more about the Prestinians and Arkia had started to yearn for peace, but while Sansheraz was in charge of the army, she could do nothing to stop him, despite being the overall leader of her people.

Just a few days ago she had installed a microphone chip in the control room, while the Doctor had been unconscious, and had started to listen in on anything that occurred between him and Sansheraz, who she knew continued to visit the Doctor, even though he had no reason to. It had been only minutes ago that she had overheard the Doctor explaining to his rescuers that General Sansheraz was lying to his Supreme Commander; keeping the truth hidden from her so that he could continue the war to annihilate the entire Prestinian race.

The report she had been waiting for had been intercepted by General Sansheraz, preventing her from discovering the truth. The Prestinians really had evolved on the planet below and it was their right to claim it.

So, she had taken it upon herself to do what was right: to stop the war and save her people.

Standing in front of her was the young blonde girl that Sansheraz had picked up barely a month ago; the young girl that had betrayed the General and led the enemy onboard. She had to wonder why she had done that, however that was not a question that she would ask yet. Arkia had more important questions that needed answering first.

And so, she waited for the girl to answer what she had just said.

* * *

Jenny fidgeted. "You know the truth?"

"By if you mean how we evolved on the planet below as well as the Prestinian's, then yes?" smiled the Supreme Commander, nodding to her soldiers to release Jenny's arms.

Jenny rubbed the top of her arms; the guards had not been kind to her, but she chose to ignore that and stared hard into Arkia's eyes. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because I am your only hope of getting off this ship alive, after all I am the one in charge of my people, I do hold some degree of power. General Sansheraz will kill you if he catches you. At this moment he does not suspect that I have figured him out, but if we are to return my people to the peaceful ones we were travelling the stars, then we have to act now and trust one another unconditionally," explained the Supreme Commander, serenely.

Jenny hesitated, unsure of what to do. She was so close to freeing her father! "Then let me save my father."

Shock registered across Arkia's face. "The Doctor is your father?"

_Shouldn't have said that! _"He is... we hadn't seen one another in a while. I learnt he was here when I went on my sabotage mission to Prestine and that's when I changed sides." She hoped that she hadn't said anything that would mean automatic death. "And their reasoning made more sense than the General's."

Nodding, Arkia turned away to stroll up the corridor, stopping outside the door that led to the control room, where the infiltrators were now hiding. "If I am to save my people, I need them to trust me too. Your friends are barricading themselves inside the chamber. If General Sansheraz figures out I am siding with you, he will kill me and take control of the whole fleet."

Swallowing, Jenny walked forward. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

"I will input the code that overrides all doors but it will close as soon as you step through. I do not know what they are doing in there, but they will fight when the time comes. I will try my best to waylay the General." She reached into her pocket and handed Jenny a circular communicator. "This will bypass all security on this ship. You should be able to get in touch with Auraya on the planet below. Tell her that I am willing to consider peace if she is. Explain what I have learnt. Page me your answer on 875-993. We will then take it from there." She closed Jenny's hand around the communicator. "Now go; you won't have much time."

Jenny nodded and as Arkia input the override code on the control room door, she steeled herself for what was to come, knowing that the next hour would be vitally important to the future of two races; two races that were fighting to survive in a harsh universe.

**To be continued...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

The door slid open to the control room and Jenny swiftly stepped inside, before the door closed once more. She stopped as guns trained on her and she raised her hands. "It's just me."

Ricka lowered his gun, only slightly. "This door was sealed! How did you get in here?"

"The Supreme Commander. She's outside," she moved to stand in front of the door as Ricka stepped forward, "but she's on our side. She knows everything and she wants to help, but you have to trust her."

Ricka growled low in his throat. "I don't have time for this!" he yelled. "We need a definitive plan of action! My planet is being bombarded!"

"I know," whispered Jenny, "but if you can make peace, surely that is the better option? General Sansheraz is the enemy, not Arkia. Let her help you; she may be able to bring him down without our help. All we have to do is negotiate with Auraya." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the circular communicator the Supreme Commander had given her. "I have this. It'll bypass the security wards and allow us to communicate on a private channel without being overheard."

Ricka stared at the device in the young girl's hand, his mind whirling with all the new information that it had suddenly had to process quite quickly. He had to make a decision.

"If we fight we risk losing, if we don't we still risk losing, but it we try to negotiate, sir, maybe there is hope for both races?"

Ricka glanced at one of his soldiers. This particular soldier had brown hair and startling brown eyes filled with warmth; his face was soft. Adam, that was his name, he remembered. He bit his lip, hesitation evident on his face. "I think you may be right, Adam." He glanced over his shoulder at Donna who was kneeling beside the unconscious form of her friend. "If anyone is to speak to Auraya, it will be Donna. She'll trust her." He levelled his gaze at Jenny. "Do it... but be warned, if this backfires on us all, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Jenny swallowed. "It won't."

"You should hope not."

* * *

Donna glanced up from her position on the floor, from holding the breathing mask to the Doctor's face, to see Jenny standing above her. Her eyes widened. She hadn't even seen her come in – so absorbed in keeping the Doctor alive, she had barely registered the raised voice of Ricka or his junior's suggestion. "How did you get here?"

"You really didn't notice?"

"I'm always missing the big and important things," smiled Donna, remembering how before the Doctor had come into her life how that had been a usual thing for her. If aliens invaded the world it would go right over her head; thanks to the Doctor she had learnt to look for the bigger picture. But even now, in times of extreme distress, she reverted back to her old ways. The truth was, she had not expected to see Jenny here, let alone holding out something in her hand to take. "What is it?"

"Communicator device. We're going to try negotiations. Ricka wants you to be the one to do it. The Supreme Commander knows everything; she knows she was deceived by the General. She is going to waylay him for us while we try to negotiate with Auraya. I guess I'm sort of her official envoy."

Donna nodded. "Can you keep the oxygen mask on his face?"

Jenny knelt down and placed her hand on the mask, keeping it over his mouth and nose, while handing the device to Donna. "How is he?" She could see that her father was pale, his skin sweaty and he was slightly shaking. He was dying. There was a pool of blood around him, despite the bandages the soldiers had wrapped around him. That was all they could do for him while they were stuck in this room. They had no other choice but to wait. How could they escape with the Doctor in this condition and especially without a stretcher?

"Badly hurt," answered Donna. "He needs to see someone."

"If we can get a cease-fire and the Supreme Commander can stop General Sansheraz then he'll get it," replied Jenny, her tone full of concern.

"But how long can he survive like that?" asked Donna wearily, glancing at her unconscious friend.

Jenny bit her lip. "I don't know."

* * *

The last thing Auraya expected was to get a call from Donna Noble, especially on her private communicator, from an unrecognisable device. She was very tempted to not answer it, after all this could be a trap, however instinct told her to answer, and so she grabbed the communicator device from her belt and flipped the switch speaking into it as she did so.

"This is Auraya speaking. Who is this and how did you get this number?"

"It's Donna, Donna Noble," was the answer.

"Who's device are you using, Donna? Why not use your own?"

Donna sighed. "Because if I used my own one then the General would be able to track what we are saying, and considering the situation we are in, that would not be a good idea. I am using the private communicator of Supreme Commander Arkia. She leant it –"

"She did what?" yelled Auraya, her voice full of surprise and concern that this might be a trap after all.

"You don't need to worry. She's on our side," said Donna. "Look, I don't have much time. We've got the Doctor and installed the energy packs into the machine; they seem to be working, however we are trapped inside the control room. We can't move the Doctor and we have no stretcher to get him out. If we move him, we risk killing him. He is already dying as it is." There was concern in her voice. "The Doctor told us – and this has been backed up by Jenny – that the Supreme Commander does not know the truth. The General ordered a review into what the Doctor was claiming and the facts came out correct. The Armorinians did evolve on your planet, however the General wants to destroy you and he feared that telling the Supreme Commander the truth would jeopardise that, so he never told her. Arkia wants to open negotiations with you, if you are willing. Because the fleet is at war, she does not have control at this exact moment, however if she can deal with General Sansheraz she will. But she won't act, I don't think, until she has an answer from you about whether peace can be bartered between the two sides."

"You want me to consider _peace_?" She almost spat the last word out. "They were responsible for the death of my father!"

"Yes," replied Donna nervously. "Auraya, this may be your chance to end the war. Whatever else the Supreme Commander did, she is not at fault for General Sansheraz keeping the truth from her. She has acknowledged this. I do not think if peace cannot be brought they will stay antagonising you or your people. I think they will leave, but the main opposition at the moment is the General and without the chance of a resolution, Arkia won't act."

Auraya fell silent, considering her options. She could accept the terms and agree to talks; after all they didn't need to make peace if they fell through, providing the war wasn't started up again. On the other hand would her people really accept that? Would they agree to her for making this choice? What would her father do? _He'd take the chance... anything to save our people and minimise loss of life on both sides. _She wanted to be as good a leader as her father. _He'd take the risk and deal with any consequences of his choices when that time came. _

She raised the communicator to her lips. "I'll do it but I can't promise peace if that is not what my people want, but I am willing to listen. Also... tell the Supreme Commander that I will try to save as many of her people as I can that are currently trapped within our shields."

"I will do that," said Donna.

Auraya leaned back in her chair. She touched the other communicator that was linked to the main control station via her ear device. "Captain. I have a new set of instructions for you." She relayed what she wanted done and then got up from her chair and began to prepare for a speech that she would need to make as soon as a ceasefire was made.

_That's presuming there will be a ceasefire. _She couldn't lay down the doubts, she just couldn't, but she was willing to work to a better cause, no matter what her subconscious was trying to tell her.

* * *

Donna took over holding the oxygen mask to the Doctor's face from Jenny while her friend contacted the Supreme Commander on her pager. She looked down at him, watching as his eyelids fluttered. There was a wet cloth that Jenny had been using to wipe the excess sweat from him. She picked it up and spread it across his forehead.

His eyelids fluttered open. His brown pupils were cloudy and unfocused, but there was a spark there that showed he was listening, even if he couldn't respond. Whatever was happening to him now had drained his strength. He was just barely holding on.

"Doctor," whispered Donna, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "Auraya has agreed to a ceasefire. We are just waiting on Arkia now. Do you think you'll be able to hold on until we can get you somewhere more comfortable?"

A slight nod.

"You'd better not die on me, you got that?" ordered Donna. "I'd never get home again, would I?"

"No..." he croaked beneath the oxygen mask.

"Don't try to talk... you need to keep up your strength."

Another nod.

Satisfied that he was doing what she had said, Donna sat back on her heels and watched the commotion around her. Ricka had ordered his men to check all of their equipment. They had managed to hack into one of the console systems as well which allowed them access into the heart of the Armorinian intelligence system but what they had been attempting to do had been discovered and they were now locked out, however they had succeeded in pulling important information before being tracked. They now knew exactly who had been kept from learning the truth regarding Prestine's natural species. If those accepted the new findings they would not be punished, however those people under General Sansheraz who knew the truth would not be spared. No matter what Donna said they could not prevent them from taking some life, and the Doctor was in too much of a weak condition to fight back and make his opinion known.

The only thing that could save them now was the Supreme Commander's word that she would be able to control them.

Then, Jenny was by her side. "I've spoken to Arkia and I've passed the word along. She said she'll get back to me shortly on what we should do next."

Donna nodded. "Have you told Ricka?" He was busy checking the small hand-gun he carried around with him.

"Not yet, no. I thought it best to wait till we hear back, providing of course, that this isn't some sort of trap."

"It won't... be."

"Doctor, I told you to rest," scowled Donna. He looked so tired and worn out that she would have ordered him to rest if there was any point to it, but they both knew that that wouldn't happen until he was safely in the hands of a medical professional who could heal his injuries without aggravating the many implants. She hated the look of them. How could someone do that to a person? "How are we going to get these connections out of him?"

"An operation, I think," replied Jenny. "Arkia has already promised once this is over she'll get the surgeons to patch him up properly."

"Good," sniffed Donna, "they'd better."

"They... will."

"Hush!" Donna nearly shouted. "You need to rest." She knew he had to conserve his strength. Wasting more of it on pointless chatter would make him fade faster and she didn't want to lose him; she just couldn't. If she did, where would she be?

_Stuck in the future with no way home... _was the lingering thought in her mind.

**To be continued...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Seems like this is the last chapter! I thought there was one more after this, but there isn't, so this is the final chapter to this story. **

**Chapter Eleven**

General Sansheraz walked proudly through the corridors of his magnificent warship, the command ship that had been his home ever since he had joined the Armorinian navy when he had just been sixteen years old. Trained from birth for this ranking, he had worked hard to achieve his goal and bring honour to his people. His broad arms swung at his side, a smirk on his handsome face. The Prestinians would soon be dead and his people would be able to inhabit the land that was rightfully theirs. He was prepared for everything. It angers him that the blonde girl had betrayed him. _What made her do it? Before she dies I will find out why she turned against us. _

It was a promise he fully intended on keeping. General Sansheraz _never _broke his promises, and this would not be start of him failing to do so.

He glanced around at the soldiers marching behind him. Fully trained and deadly, they were his to control. No one else could command them, not even the Supreme Commander. His person squad would do everything he asked - even kill Arkia if he ordered them to do so. They would have no qualms about that order, not at all, loyal to him until the end. After all, he held the lives of their loved ones in his hands; threats and bribery, he had learned long ago, were important traits and skills to have to ensuring people remain loyal to you, not matter the commands.

"Remember," he began, his voice full of smugness, "your orders are clear. Do not kill the girl; do not harm their prisoner," he was referring to the Doctor, "but you have authorisation to kill all the infiltration team! Once we have secured the ship, instruct the cleaners that they will need to thoroughly clean every inch of this ship that has been spoiled by the Prestinians. You all understand the punishment, if any of you dare to disobey me, of course."

A chorus of 'yes sir' echoed behind him. He smiled, his lips curling upwards. Life was good. He had loyal guards who would stand by him until the end. _Threatening their families was the best thing I ever did, _he thought smugly, _they will never betray me. Ever. _

He did not know how very wrong he was.

* * *

Jenny's trouser pocket vibrated. The Doctor had fallen into a healing trance in a bid to help him keep as much strength as possible. All Donna and Jenny could do was keep the oxygen mask on his face. One of his hearts wasn't beating; he was surviving on just the one. Technically they were useless; all of those in the chamber were, all placing their face in someone who was their enemy. Even Jenny was having doubts now as it had been more than fifteen minutes since she had sent word to Arkia regarding Auraya's decision.

_Beep! Beep! _

Reaching into her pocket she extracted the communication device, looking at Donna with wariness on her face. What if she had judged Arkia wrong? What if she was only playing with them? _No, I have to believe that there is some good in this world. _

Jenny flicked the switch and said: "Jenny here."

"I'm glad I could reach you," Arkia's voice was breathy and full of urgency. "I have decided what the best course of action will be. General Sansheraz is just minutes away from your location, but I can stall him. I have arranged for my advisors to make sure the confrontation that I am about to go into will be broadcast throughout the entire fleet. I will force him to admit the truth, the deceit he has done. I hope that my people will side with me. I already have people onboard the rest of the fleet ships ready to tell me what the consensus is. If the General does not agree to a ceasefire then I will have to kill him. As we are at war, he does have more power than me, however, if the entire fleet rebels against his actions I will then have enough authorisation to take action and remove him from his post. He will not go easily. Embarrassing him publicly in front of the people that honour his name is the only way to bring him down."

Jenny swallowed, casting a glance Donna's way. "What can I do?"

"You and your companions have to remain in the control room. I imagine the Doctor is badly injured?" There was concern in Arkia's voice, as if she generally cared about him.

"He is," said Donna, making her voice louder so that her message got through.

"Then you need to keep him alive. I give you my word that we will heal him as payment for what we have done to him." She seemed to hesitate before continuing to speak, as if she was wondering whether saying what she was about to was a good idea or not. "I feel I should come clean with this, but when the Doctor was bought onboard originally, I ordered for him to be conscious throughout the operation that allowed us to connect him to our machines so that we can drain his life force. I regret doing that now to him and I want to make it up to him. I understand that you may be angry with me, but I want to help end this war. It's been going on far too long now."

Jenny and Donna were stunned. They exchanged significant glances.

"Can you still trust me to keep to my word?" asked Arkia, her voice soft.

"I don't think I can call that," said Jenny. She handed the communicator device to Donna. "Donna has known the Doctor longer than I ever have. She has more of the right to accept whether we can trust you or not."

Donna swallowed and took the communicator device. She brought it to her lips, her mind whirling with the new information that she had just been told. The Supreme Commander had ordered the Doctor to go through an operation conscious? How could she still trust her after what she had done to him? Willingly allowed happen to him? _People can change. _There was that niggling voice at the back of her mind, telling her that she should trust Arkia. She bit her lip and hoped that she was making the right decision. "I trust you to save us all and end this war for good."

"Thank you," the reply was gentle. "The General is coming. You need to stay inside, otherwise what I am about to do could go horrible wrong. I do not wish for any more people to die."

Donna acknowledged the call and switched off the link, handing the communicator back to Jenny who slipped it deftly back into her pocket. "I guess we wait," she said, her eyes falling on the pale form of the Time Lord lying on the floor beside her. "I don't like sitting here but we have no choice. I'm usually one who would want to go out there and help, but looking at the Doctor now..." she met Jenny's gaze, "he needs us here, just in case things go wrong."

Jenny nodded, feeling the same way. She got to her feet. "I'll go and tell Ricka the plan. I don't think he'll like being forced to sit in here and wait for an outcome. If Arkia fails..."

"...then we all die," finished Donna, her face pale, but her eyes were bright with fire. If it came to a final fight she would not surrender, she would go down fighting, even if it killed her in the end.

* * *

"Supreme Commander." To say he wasn't surprised that Arkia was waiting by the control room, surrounded by her guard was an understatement. He was mad that she interfering with what was right. She had no right to! Still, she didn't know the truth. Getting rid of her would be easy. After all, in war, he had the most power. "If you excuse me I will talk to you later, I have some infiltrators that I need to deal with quite urgently." He kept his voice calm and collected, hoping that his reasonable voice would urge her to leave. He had ordered his people on the bridge to keep him informed of any changes. They had not told him that she was outside. _Of course, the security cam is down out here but not in there. _It wasn't every day that he forgot something like that. _I'm stressed, that's all there is to it. _

"No." The word was said in a hard voice and not for the first time Sansheraz noticed the anger in Arkia's eyes.

The smug smile he had been wearing slipped from his face and he cracked his fingers. Now he felt wary. If she didn't move he would order his own guard to stun her. She could not be allowed to stop him from ending this war for good and ridding the Armorinians of the Prestinians for good. It was his destiny. It was his right. He had been trained for this. What use was a General if he never won any victories? Generals were not useful in peace but after a war, they would be; he would be required to help set up the government, help his people settle, but peace with the Prestinians, no, there was no honour in that, no future for a General. If they made peace with the Prestinians, his time as General would be meaningless. He would be a failure, having been unable to lead his people to victory over the enemy. He would not allow that to be his legacy. "Surely you know that we have the infiltrators cornered? We are on the brink of winning this war, of ending the Prestinians lives for good! We will regain the planet that is rightfully ours! Do we not deserve that honour after travelling the stars for so long? They stole it from us!"

Arkia crossed her arms as she pulled her hand out of her pocket. "No, they did not." She was surprisingly calm, despite the anger simmering in her eyes. "You lied to me. You have lied to everyone so that you can have your victory, so that you can be honoured for winning a war that _we do not deserve to win!_"

"I have not and will not ever lie to my people!" he spat vehemently. Anger was rising. He could not be dealing with this now. Not when victory could be in his hands!

"Everything we have believed is a lie." She began to walk slowly forward, her guard accompanying her. "I commissioned a report to discover whether the Prestinians really did evolve on our home world after we left it. I never got the report back; you intercepted it and then told me that the claims were not true. And I believed you like the fool I was, but now I know the truth."

_How does she know? _He began to raise his arm to signal his men to fire upon her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said. "You know what I am and what I can do. I have power of which you would not believe. You cannot kill me. I have already disabled your weapons. You may as well hear me out and you may yet live through this, General."

Oh yes, he knew what the Supreme Commander was. She was unique among their people, one of the reasons why she was their leader. She had incredible mental powers and when applied correctly could do things that no one else could do. She had even used them against the Doctor when she had first met him. No one knew how these powers had developed or why only she of their people had been gifted with them, but everyone had agreed that the powers meant she should be their leader. Ever since her powers had been discovered, Arkia had been raised to lead; it had always been her destiny, just like being General had been his.

She had never threatened him with her powers before but it was rumoured when she did, it was not wise to argue with her. He swallowed, weighing his options. Perhaps he could reason with her? He was good doing that, he had always managed to save his skin before; maybe he could do that again?

"The truth is out there, Sansheraz. I have made sure of that. The Prestinians did evolve on our world and have every right to be living there. We have less of a right to claim the world as our own since our entire species abandoned the world. We wanted space-travel; the Prestinians are what we used to be before we got bored. It took years, thousands of centuries before we got bored with exploring the universe. We have no right to take our world back. I know you want to win this war, but the only person to have made this war what it is, is you. By lying to me and keeping me from the truth you have deceived your entire people, made them believe that we have a right to ownership. We do not. Surrender now, General, and your punishment will not be as severe as it could be if you resist."

He gritted his teeth. "NO! I have worked too long to even consider peace with them! They will not consider that with us, not after what we have done! They cannot forgive! We have the power source to win! Let me use him, drain the power completely and use it against Auraya, we can win! I'll – we – will gain the recognition that we deserve!"

"The Doctor is an intelligent, telepathic being. It is wrong to imprison someone against their will just because they have the power we need to run our ships. Yes, I am admitting something that has been kept quiet for centuries. When we ask for a volunteer child to help us we use their psychic potential to help run our fleet, they are unconscious and do not feel any pain. We release them once they get to a certain age, and we have never used an adult Armorinian before. But the Doctor, another species entirely became our energy source, fully conscious of everything that was happening to him. That was what your hero of a General decided to do and I agreed with. But I always regretted it because such an intelligent being should not be imprisoned against his will. I want to make amends and the Prestinians are willing to help us, that is if everyone agrees to the immediate removal of General Sansheraz, for his lies and deceit to me and his people."

"You are making no sense!" yelled Sansheraz. There was no one there to listen to what she had just said; only his guard and they were loyal to him. Always.

A smile twitched on Arkia's face and she slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out the device that had been recording her conversation with the General and was still transmitting on all frequencies throughout the fleet. "You think? It's over, General. Surrender now and your life will be spared."

He was shaking his head frantically. _No, no, no, this cannot be happening! Everything I've worked so hard for! _

"Supreme Commander? The vote is in. They stand by you. Only one fleet ship does not. They all tire of war; they do not care if they have to lower themselves to begging for mercy at the hands of Auraya." The voice came over Arkia's communicator which she held in her other hand.

"There, you see, our people have spoken," answered Arkia smoothly.

"NO!" Sansheraz was desperate. "I need my victory otherwise I am _nothing_!"

"You can still be honoured by doing the right thing."

"No, fighting until the end is the _right thing_!" he spat, his face reddening. "Peace with the enemy is not the way!"

Arkia's shoulders loosened and she looked almost sad. "Then I'm sorry I have to do this." Placing her communicator back into her pocket, she raised her right hand, pointing it straight at him.

He knew instinctively what she was going to do. He raised his hands just as something spurt out of her fingertips and hit him straight in the head. He felt darkness spreading through every part of his body, he was screaming, his head hurting. He spat blood out of his mouth; the darkness swimming through his entire body. He was convulsing in pain, he felt like his head would burst –

"STOP!"

The darkness ceased and he blinked rapidly. He shouldn't have survived that... and he moved his head. He was now lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, but as his vision returned he saw a woman who his spies knew as the Doctor's friend and companion as Donna Noble. Her hair was tired back in a pony tail, but her face was pale and she was talking in hushed tones to Arkia. He could just manage to discern the words.

"Don't kill him. He should live," said Donna. "The Doctor wouldn't want this. Not ever. Don't you see? Sansheraz is not right in the head. He never has been. Everything we've heard proves that. Help him get his mind back. Killing him will do no good. The people side with you, there is no need to kill him, even after all he has done."

"I am not accustomed to mercy," whispered Arkia.

Donna swallowed. "I know, but there is always a first, right?"

Arkia was silent. If she ever replied, Sansheraz did not know it, for he sunk into unconscious, the darkness claiming him.

* * *

They had taken Sansheraz to a secure holding cell where he was analysed by medical doctors from throughout the fleet. They all came to the same conclusion: he was slightly off his rocker. The best thing they could do for him was give him medication in the hopes that it would calm him down and return him to his normal self. When asked about what had brought his mentality on, one doctor had politely explained that it had been brought on by the expectations of him by his family ever since he had been born and it had only heightened when they had returned to their home world to find it populated. No one had noticed his slow decline, the Doctor's appearance only a few months ago had been the end of it. The real Sansheraz would never have wanted a conscious being to suffer for months on end just so that they could use his energy. Alternative methods would have been sought first, however, since he had acted alone in acquiring the Doctor, no one could have told him how very wrong he was.

True to her word, Arkia arranged for the best doctors and nurses to care for the Doctor. They had taken out all the connections placed within him without his consent and patched him up accordingly. They had even attempted to give him compensation with their form of money, however Donna refused on his behalf; travelling with the Doctor had told her that he would not accept anything like that. He would be grateful that Arkia had come round to his way of thinking and had managed to end the war.

Negotiations between Auraya and Arkia had begun almost immediately with Donna acting as the go between them until both leaders figured it would be safe to meet in person. Arkia took the risk and flew down to Prestine to meet with Auraya – without her guard with her, as a gesture of her trust in the young leader – and within a few days an agreement had been drawn up that would benefit both sides.

Aware that her father had always tried for peace, Auraya had decided to follow in his footsteps. Having heard first-hand the condition of General Sansheraz, the only thing she had asked for in return was that he was kept well away from the planet. It also turned out that the Armorinians ambitions for their world included setting up an international Market, which Auraya agreed to help them with. Trade for the planet would be good and open up new opportunities for the Prestinians; and so the markets that the Doctor and brought Donna to see in the first place were born.

Time was back on track.

* * *

More than a week later, the Doctor, Donna and Jenny were still on Prestine (mostly because the Doctor had been recovering) but now they were getting ready to leave. Auraya had opened up the world to the Armorinians and the first of its people were beginning to settle on the unoccupied land. Though there had been dispute among the Prestinians as to whether the Armorinians should be allowed to settle on the planet, the general consensus had been that they be allowed to since the entire people couldn't be blamed for the actions of one General.

Jenny strode beside her father, hands in her pockets. She had picked up that habit from him when they had met on Messaline.

"When are we leaving?" asked Donna. "Much as I like it here, you did promise me a Market and I'd like to see them in their prime, not before they were set up." She elbowed the Doctor lightly. "And you said that you couldn't interfere with a fixed point in time."

"I didn't interfere. I guess my presence being here helped the markets being formed. I doubt if I hadn't turned up here the Markets would never be formed and then we would have one big paradox," he smiled wearily, "and that wouldn't be good at all."

"I guess not," mused Donna. She turned to Jenny. "So, are you coming with us? After all, before you died, the Doctor said you could join us."

Jenny was silent for a while; a contemplative look came over her face. Donna exchanged a glance with the Doctor.

"I think I'm going to stay here," she said finally.

The Doctor's eyes bulged. "Why?"

Jenny kicked a free stone that was lying on the grass. "I like it here and there are so many opportunities here. I can see how a civilisation and government is established. I've been around, not much as you, dad, but this would be educational for me."

"There is something else isn't there?" said The Doctor.

Jenny nodded. "They need my energy. Yeah, they are slowly bringing them down to the surface but there is an entire race in the skies up there. They need my energy to survive while everything is sorted out. Someone needs to stay. You know about the peace treaty details. They will settle them down a month at a time. In ten years all the Armorinians will be done on the planet's surface, but their ships are not going to last long without energy. It's better to have a willing volunteer rather than one who has been forced to. And I'm willing to help them." She had had already had to give some more energy to keep the ships in orbit and they had taken enough from her so that it would last them at least three weeks before they would need to top up again.

"I thought you'd stay," whispered the Doctor. He wiped a hand through his hair. "Though before I leave, I want to know, how did you survive that bullet?"

"I don't know. I died but then I woke up again. Is that normal?"

"Time Lords can regenerate," explained the Doctor, "where if I am fatally injured I can regenerate which gives me a new body and life, but I still retain memories from all my other lives. This is my tenth body now."

"Really?" Jenny sounded shocked. "Do you think I can regenerate?"

"You didn't change body which makes me think you didn't regenerate. I think it was the Source that brought you back. It was meant to bring life, I think it affected you and it brought you back," he said. "You would have regenerated instantly if you had that ability. I think, much as I hate to say it, that you don't have it, and you were just very lucky."

"So I should avoid potentially live endangering situations then?" she asked cheekily.

The Doctor grinned. "Well, if you are going to be spending the next ten years here, then after that, if you want to lead a full life, it might be best to be a bit more careful then I am. I tend to get in trouble every other week or so."

"Ahem!" Donna's arms were crossed across her chest and her eyebrows were raised. "Every other week? How about every day?"

The Doctor crowed. "Well, yes, there is that..."

Jenny laughed. "I guess this may be goodbye?"

"Not for a few days at least," he replied. "If I'm not going to see you often, then I may as well spend some more time with you, besides after all I've been through, I think I deserve a rest."

"You do, dad, you do," smiled Jenny. "I'm glad to have found you again."

A slight smile pulled on the Doctor's face. "Me too, I'm glad you're alive. At least I know I'm not alone in the universe."

Donna placed a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, you never are alone. No matter what happens, there will always be someone there for you."

"Thank you, Donna Noble." He pulled her into a hug, dragging Jenny into one as well. "So Jenny, before I go," he started after they had pulled away from one another, "how would you like to see my spaceship?"

The answering squeal was all the confirmation he needed to change direction back to his beloved Time Ship that he had not seen in months. Hooking his arm through Donna's and Jenny's, he led them back to his home.

Everything would be fine; he just knew it would be.

**THE END**

**Please let me know what you think. **

**This story marks the end of my time as a Who fic writer. I have no plans to write any more. Currently I am working to finish all my Harry Potter fics before I go off to university next year. I have enjoyed my time writing Who fic over the years - it has been lots of fun creating stories for the BBC character's. Thank you to everyone who has read my stories over the years. **

**the-writer1988**


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